Unsung Heroes

For Terrik, donning his customized crimson and white armor was like being back in his own skin. As he checked his weapons, however, he recalled that he was low on ammunition and fuel for his jet pack He would have to watch that.

Switching his helmet’s view to night vision, the powerless room lit up in a bright green tint. His trick with the door may have saved his life, but it had also sealed him in the tiny supply closet.

Scanning his surroundings, he found nothing to aid in his endeavor.

No choice. I have to use it if I want to get out of here.

Terrik aimed his left gauntlet at the door blocking his escape and fired. A beam of energy sprang forth, vibrating the steel’s molecules so quickly it obliterated the bonds holding its constituent atoms together. The weapon—dubbed the annihilator beam—was outlawed on every planet, and with good reason: the vibrations produced an unstable resonance as likely to kill the wielder as the target. Terrik was using a miniaturized, weaker variant of the weapon to minimize the backlash as much as possible.

The steel door blew apart in an instant, but the pulse wave hurled Terrik back against the wall hard enough to dent the metal. His head reeled from the impact, and he knew he never would have survived the blast without his armor. A queasy feeling overtook him. His vision blurring, Terrik fought the urge to vomit and lost.

Removing his helmet, he took a moment to collect himself amid the discordant energy still trickling through the air.

Remind me never to do that again . . .

After cleaning out his helmet with a towel, Terrik sealed his armor in place and rose to his feet, marching into the adjacent hallway. An alarm blared over the speakers, reminding the crew they only had an hour left of breathable air.

No time to waste, he thought with a grimace. While his helmet had several filters for poisonous gases, it contained no spare oxygen tank. But Terrik knew where he could find one: the ship’s bridge. Spare space suits were always kept on the bridge in case personnel were cut off from the rest of the ship. It was also where he needed to go to unlock the hangar bay. From there he could steal a ship and escape the Regime’s wrath.

Luckily the bridge wasn’t far. It took less than five minutes to reach it, but there was even less lighting on the command deck than the rest of the Scourge. Only with his night vision was he able to see the array of computer terminals and curved nose of the capital ship’s bow. But neither that nor the assortment of corpses drew his immediate attention. No, it was the two warriors locked in melee combat, hacking and slashing at one another.

Terrik’s visor instantly attached a name to each combatant—obviously the Earth Alliance knew both to have them on file. The first was Dex, the Latoroth he had fought down on the planet they still orbited. The second was a human Biomancer named Janus, with a bounty more than five times the price of Dex’s.

Biomancers.

If there was one thing Terrik despised, it was Biomancers. Raising his rifle, he was about to kill them both with his mounted grenade launcher when he noticed a third person in the room, suspended in the air. No name or information showed up for this hooded figure but Terrik recognized him as the one who freed him from the cell.

One of those Biomancers is crushing him, Terrik realized. But which one?

Firing the grenade launcher was no longer an option; the explosion would destroy all three individuals. As much as he wanted to kill both Biomancers at once, he couldn’t turn his back on the man who’d helped him—his honor forbade it.

“Dex . . . help,” the man gasped.

That settles it.

Now that Terrik was sure of the situation, there was only one thing to do: he peppered Janus with plasma fire. Two of the beams smashed into the Biomancer’s chest, causing him to stumble back and drop his hold on his prey.

He took those plasma beams like it was nothing, Terrik thought in disbelief. His armor is even stronger than mine.

Janus leapt into the air and landed atop a light fixture, pausing to gather his powers. Terrik activated the adhesive grips in his gauntlets to keep his weapon from being pulled from his grasp. For a brief instant Dex was wide open for a shot. Terrik fought his instincts to put the alien down for good, knowing it would take all three of them to stand against Janus.

Rage filled every fiber of Dex’s being. He was starting to realize he was outmatched, and that made him hate Janus even more. Worse was the fact that Janus had realized it, too, and he was intentionally goading Dex with that knowledge.

A second later the sound of plasma fire filled the bridge. Faintly, Dex saw the bounty hunter had arrived with his assault rifle. Janus cackled sadistically, taking the plasma beams in stride. The Biomancer leapt onto one of the narrow light fixtures, and Dex followed him up, lashing out with an aggressive sequence of strikes with his scimitar. Janus smoothly parried the blows while maintaining a perfect balance on the metal support beams.

“You’re an awfully slow learner,” Janus taunted, warding off another slash. “Do I have to beat you with my off hand just to prove how worthless you are?”

Dex did his best to ignore the lunatic’s provocation and moved closer, bit by bit, closing the gap between them. He knew he couldn’t win in a duel, but there was still one trick that could give him the upper hand . . .

Now!

Dex saw his opening and lunged. His palm connected with Janus’s armored forearm. The Latoroth’s genetically modified power flowed through him as he attempted to detonate his enemy’s arm.

But nothing happened.

That’s when Dex noticed Janus’s black armor was identical to the kind worn by elite Varrcaran troopers, making the wearer immune to Biomancer powers. Very few individuals outside of the Regime had this kind of armor; Janus must have claimed his off a dead Varrcaran trooper. A cruel smirk crossed the human’s face and he smashed his fist into Dex’s jaw. The Latoroth felt one of his teeth crack beneath the force of the impact. He lost his balance and fell to the floor, slamming his head against a computer terminal. Stars blurred his vision.

Janus jumped down beside him. “It seems none of you are quick learners.” Janus thrust his hand forward, palm outward, hurling the bounty hunter against the far wall where he toppled to the ground.

Ignoring the pain flaring in his body, Dex rose once more and renewed his assault on Janus. The human deflected the first four strikes, then snapped his boot into Dex’s jaw, knocking him backward.

Dex spat out some blood. “What’s wrong, Janus?” he growled. “Afraid my powers would destroy you if you weren’t wearing that armor? I should have known you wouldn’t have the guts to challenge me to a fair fight.”

Janus laughed. “We’ve had a fair fight, idiot. If you remember: I not only beat you—I humiliated you.”

Dex snarled. “I will kill you, Janus. I swear it.”

The human’s smile frosted over. “Enough of this,” he hissed. “I think I’ll gut you . . . one by one.” He reached out his hand and Dex felt his body being pulled toward Janus’s outstretched chainsword.

“Starting with you.”

Fear gripped Tola’s heart like an icy talon. Janus was stronger than the three of them put together. As the maniacal Biomancer telekinetically dragged Dex toward him, Tola racked his brain for a way they could get out of here alive.

Janus is wearing the new armor I’ve been sent to destroy, Tola thought. Time to for something crazy.

Janus let out an arrogant cackle as Dex fought in vain to escape his hold. Dread weighed over Tola like a adamanticrete cast, but if his ally were to survive he had to act now. Taking a deep breath, he interposed himself between Dex and the human Biomancer.

A look of surprise crossed Janus’s face. Then he snorted. “You’d rather die first? That’s fine with me . . .”

“Life support is running out, Janus,” Tola said. “If you kill us, you’ll suffocate before you can get the oxygen back online.”

Janus shot him a look of scorn. Then, in the blink of an eye, he blurred forward, grabbing Tola’s head with his left hand. Looking into his eyes, Janus brought his chainsword perpendicular to Tola’s throat and revved the engine.

Perfect, Tola thought. You reacted just like I hoped.

“Your . . . fight is with me, Janus,” Dex managed to croak out, free from his hold.

The Biomancer ignored him completely, keeping his eyes locked on Tola’s.

“You’re a fool,” Janus said coldly. “Do you really think I can’t make it off this ship in a half-hour’s time?” The damp warmth of his breath made Tola’s skin crawl. “I’m going to enjoy watching the life fade out of you.”

Tola let his eyes go wide with embellished fear.

A thin smile crept across Janus’s face, and Tola saw the chainsword slack a centimeter.

Here’s my chance!

In one swift motion, Tola palmed the dagger hidden in his sleeve and slashed. Janus moved with heightened reflexes, but the weapon still caught his armor. The Biomancer landed three meters away in a crouched position.

Janus gave a low chuckle. “Tricky. I shouldn’t have underestimated you. But as you can see, your little plan failed.”

“Not really,” Tola replied. As he said it, Janus noticed the small gash in his armor. Bare skin was exposed on his left shoulder, and for the first time since Tola had met him, Janus looked worried.

“Now, Dex!” Tola shouted. But the alien was already dashing across the room. Reaching out with his hand, Dex tapped Janus’s exposed shoulder before he could recover. A fluorescent blue sphere of concussive force formed, growing in size for a split second.

Then it detonated.

The explosion shook the command bridge and sent Janus flying across the room. He slammed into the steel wall and crumpled to the floor. Tola made a quick mental note that the power-immune armor was resistant to plasma, but not melee weapons. And from the squishing sound it had made when the blade connected, Tola guessed the armor was somehow organic in nature.

“Follow me!” Tola yelled to the other two. Leading them out of the room, Tola watched as the bounty hunter fired a grenade at Janus, then paused to shoot the panel beside the doorway. Sparks flew, and the heavy titasteel hatch slammed shut behind them.

“Nice thinking,” Tola said with a grin. “Titansteel is the strongest alloy in the galaxy. Even Janus will have trouble getting through that.”

Suddenly the door began to moan and creak. The edges of the thick plating rippled under heavy stress.

“But, you know, maybe not.”

The bounty hunter pushed them forward. “Let’s go!”

This was the first fight Dex had ever run from. He knew it was the smart decision, but to flee while Janus still lived was like tearing off his own arm. The only reason he had left at all was because the human, Tola, had saved his life. Only one other person had ever done that for Dex, and she was what mattered most to him.

I’ll kill Janus another day, Dex reasoned to himself. And I’ve already saved this human’s life, so I don’t owe him any favors.

As they ran through the scarcely lit interior of the Black Scourge, Dex made sure to keep a careful watch on the bounty hunter. That man had nearly killed him on the planet below, and he was responsible for the Regime capturing him. The one thing keeping Dex from breaking the man’s neck was that he had helped in the fight against Janus—and the enemy of his enemy was his friend.

For now, anyway.

“Where to?” Dex asked gruffly.

“The hangar,” Tola answered. “Since we couldn’t get the life support back on, we need to escape the Black Scourge as fast as possible. It’s a long way from here, but if I remember the vessel’s schematics correctly, it should be almost a straight shot.”

“What other prisoners are loose on the ship?” the bounty hunter asked.

Tola shook his head. “None that I know of. I only freed you and Dex. How Janus got loose, I have no idea.”

“So, we could be walking into—”

The bounty hunter’s words cut off as the emergency lights powered down, casting the ship in total darkness. With his infrared vision, Dex saw the other two stop, so he paused beside them. Tola fumbled through his contents and pulled out a flashlight, clicking it on. Walking to the nearest door, the human punched in the override code on the adjacent panel.

Nothing happened.

“It’s gone,” Tola murmured. “All the power’s been cut.”

Janus . . . Dex thought angrily, his massive hand tightening around the grip of his scimitar. As if I need another reason to kill him.

“Lights, doors, electronics—everything?” the bounty hunter asked.

“Everything but the artificial gravity.” Tola turned to look at him. “We’re floating dead in space.”