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Amazon
Rage Books LLC
Rage Books LLC
Category:
Science Fiction
Publisher: Rage Books LLC
ISBN-10: 0984364528
Type: Fiction
Pages: 328
Copyright: May 5, 2010
ISBN-13: 9780984364527
There is a thin line between justice and vengeance. In a vast universe of advanced weaponry and superior technology, a century-old dispute causes two powerful armies to speed past that line in furor. With the defeat of the Kulusk Empire, the First Osguard, Michael Genesis, and the Universal Science, Security Trade Association of Planets -- USSTAP face their greatest military challenge ever.
There is a thin line between justice and vengeance. In a vast universe of advanced weaponry and superior technology, a century-old dispute causes two powerful armies to speed past that line in furor. With the defeat of the Kulusk Empire, the First Osguard, Michael Genesis, and the Universal Science, Security Trade Association of Planets -- USSTAP face their greatest military challenge ever -- the Tuit Consortium. In the name of justice, the Tuits introduce a new era of war fighting, employing a planet killing weapon, which obliterates entire solar systems within minutes. USSTAP is outnumbered and outgunned. With the association disintegrating; the continuing rise in the USSTAP body count; and Osguard 11, Jarod Stone missing and presumed killed in action, Michael forms a daring military plan and forges unlikely allies to combat the Tuits and end the Universal War once and for all.
Excerpt
Prologue—Thirty Days Later
It was dark, warm and soothing, but also scary and lonely at the same time. The black liquid kept her nude body warm, matching her body heat to the nth degree. It caressed, washed and lifted her into a weightless state as it wafted over her like a gentle breeze. She floated in a prone position, arms and legs extended and unable to move. A blindfold covered her eyes and a mask supplied the proper mixture of air to her lungs. It was called a sensory deprivation tank. However, it was more like a coffin, molded to her body size and structure ... a liquid coffin letting nothing in and nothing out.
Her heart was the only thing she could feel as it pounded hard in her chest. At least she imagined she could feel it. She was alone in her thoughts, without the outside environment to interject. No sight, no sound, no feeling, no smell and no taste, just the sense of her own existence that was fighting to keep a grasp on reality.
Even the feeling of expectations was lost to her. Life and death were benign concepts in the tank. All she had were memories, or were they dreams of an existence long gone? No…she had memories…she had regrets. She remembered killing Kie Ritchen. She also regretted doing it in front of Osguard 55, who was stalking in the shadows. If only she had kept her mouth shut. If she had just not engaged in frivolous bravado with Kie, before and after she had assassinated him. Now she had nothing to do, but think, remember and regret.
Time had no meaning in the tank. It already felt like an eternity. Without use of her five senses, time had become distorted. What she calculated as an entire cycle could have been a day, a week or even an hour. Her grip on sanity was all she had, and she was losing that.
She took in a deep breath so she could feel the air rush into her lungs. That along with her heartbeat was the thing her mind could focus on. She imagined she could feel her toes, fingers, and arms, but she couldn’t. She imagined she could hear the liquid in the tank sway back and forth, but it wasn’t. She imagined she could smell a metallic presence in the air she breathed, but there was none. She imagined she could see patterns of light through her blindfold, but she was in complete darkness. She licked her lips, imagining the taste of food on them, but she was fed intravenously. Therefore, her semblance of reality, of sanity, of her own being, was her breathing and her heartbeat.
She counted her heartbeats, and then she counted her breaths. Something had to keep her mind occupied, or insanity would rush in and envelop her consciousness. She didn’t know how many times she had executed this mundane chore, but it was keeping her mind active. It was reminding her she was alive…she was somebody.
Then a sharp pain shot through her right arm. At first she was shocked, then relieved. She could still feel pain. She tried to laugh, but could not, or she couldn’t hear herself laugh. Either way, the pleasure of laughter escaped her at the moment, but the feeling of pain was exquisite and well welcomed.
She heard the sound of the liquid rushing around her. Several seconds later she felt her body descend in the tank. Finally, she felt the bottom of the tank. Her back was on the bottom. At first it was irritating, almost painful, but like the pinch of the intravenous needle being removed, it was a welcomed discomfort.
Someone ripped the blindfold off. The light was so bright it hurt. She shut her eyes and covered them with her arms. Then the air mask was pulled off. She screamed with delight, or pain? At the moment she did not know which. All she knew was she could scream, so she did.
“Quiet Rina,” the voice ordered.
Rina stopped her yelling. She didn’t know why she was being pulled out of the tank or who was pulling her out, but she wasn’t going to ruin the opportunity by screaming now.
“Who are you? What is going on?” Rina asked.
“Rina of Jaywick, daughter of Rena, granddaughter of Dina, your appeal has been accepted by the Daughters of Fire. You are to appear in the Hall of Fire for your sentencing.”
Rina squinted in the direction of the voice. Her eyes were still unable to focus, but she deciphered the person talking was a guard from the Daughters of Fire. The figure wore a white cloak and hood and carried a firestaff, the weapon of choice for the Daughters of Fire.
Then two other guards, she did not see, grabbed her and forced her to her feet. Her feet fought for balance on the slippery floor of her tank. Then they picked her up and planted her on the dry deck. The black liquid dripping from her nude body littered the deck and speckled onto the guards’ white cloaks.
“Clean her up,” commanded the lead guard.
“Kiza,” the two guards replied in unison. Then they whisked her down the deck and into the cleaning area. They threw her into a shower room. Rina’s head banged against the wall as she slid into the room, lost her balance and crashed to the floor. It was hard for her to regain her balance after the long period in the deprivation tank. Rina thought it was worse than suspended animation. At least in suspended animation you were unconscious throughout, but in the deprivation tank, you were conscious, floating in mind and spirit, devoid of a body. It was freedom and prison at the same time. Now she had to get accustomed to gravity and walking again—both appearing to be difficult tasks at the time.
The sonic wave, mixed with water and air pelted her like a hailstorm. Any other time she would have welcomed the shower, especially after a long and grueling day. However, it was another source of pain, tearing at her skin. She screamed, not like she did before, not out of shock or surprise, but out of pure torture. The sonic wave pushed, pulled and ripped the black liquid from her skin. She remained on her hands and knees unable to move or stand, just screaming as if someone were cutting her with a knife.
“Why is she screaming like that?” one guard asked the other.
“It’s the after effects of the tank. They have no balance, they can’t walk, gravity is too much for them and their skin is super sensitive to any pressure, even a sonic shower.”
“Kiza!” the first guard replied.
Inside the shower, Rina of Jaywick, daughter of Rena, granddaughter of Dina, fell unconscious, unable to cope with the pain the sonic shower was delivering. Upon seeing this, the guards turned the shower off, dried her and dragged her into the changing room. They clothed her with her traditional black robe of a soldier then slapped her into consciousness.
“You awake now?”
“Kiza,” Rina whispered, massaging the sting from her cheek.
“It’s time.”
Then the guards picked her up by her arms. Rina stumbled to her feet, trying to regain her balance. Gravity was still a hard phenomenon for her to conquer. However, she felt she was making progress. The door disappeared in front of them, they walked through and the door reappeared behind them. The guards pushed and pulled her down the circular corridor. They took several turns and negotiated several stairwells until they came upon a giant doorway. The door vanished opening to a dark arena.
“You want help?”
“No,” Rina asserted. “I can do it myself.”
The guards let her go and Rina stood for the first time since her release from the tank, on her own power. She plodded through the doorway. The door reappeared behind her, locking her into the arena. She looked up and on the first tier of seats, fifteen feet up, sat the Daughters of Fire, the five leaders of the Tuit Consortium. In the other tiers of the circular arena were magistrates and other dignitaries of the Consortium. Rina estimated all five hundred Fireholders were in the Hall of Fire staring at her.
“Rina of Jaywick, daughter of Rena, granddaughter of Dina,” called the First Daughter. “You are charged with gross negligence and gross incompetence during a mission. Because of your actions, our enemies of dimension level four now know of our existence and are suspect to our plans. What do you say for yourself?”
“My First Daughter,” Rina bellowed, summoning strength she did not know she had. “I have no excuse for my arrogance. Although, I was unaware of the enemy’s presence in the room as I spoke, I shouldn’t have spoken. I failed you, and I failed the Consortium. All I have to offer is my life as a warrior to the Daughters of Fire to do as they wish.”
“Fine,” the First Daughter replied. “We have discussed your mistake and feel internment in the deprivation tank was…well, it is too harsh for your actions.”
Rina recognized the First Daughter spoke of it as a mistake and not a crime. Joy filled her heart, for she thought she was about to be pardoned for her actions.
“However,” the First Daughter continued. “Your actions did cause irrevocable damage to our cause, and a full pardon is out of the question.”
Rina’s heart dropped. She was now confused. Her confusion turned to fright. The one thing left was a prison sentence on an uncharted, uninhabitant planet. She tried to think of this as something she could do. It was better than the tank.
“Therefore, I give you a choice,” The First Daughter continued, “A Hall of Fire challenge or life in prison.”
Before she knew it, Rina said, “I will take the challenge.”
“Very well. Spoken like a true warrior. Begin the challenge!”
The door on the opposite side of the arena vanished and in its place stood a warrior guard. She wore a breastplate, a metal bikini bottom and knee high metal boots. On her left hand she wore an elbow length glove with a blade attached to the fist, littered with different size spikes. In her right hand she carried a machete type blade.
The sight of her forced Rina into a combat mode. Her adrenaline pumped and fueled her body with rare power. She navigated to her left. She stumbled and fell on her knees. At first she thought she was still too weak from the tank, but then she realized it was the robe. It bonded her and hampered her warrior movements. She jumped up and pulled the robe off, exposing her nude body to the arena. A loud gasp rushed from the crowd. At the moment, she didn’t care. She was fighting for her life, and a little bit of embarrassment was a small price to pay for her life.
The warrior sprang at Rina in a full sprint. Rina hopped to one side and slung the robe wrapping it around the warrior’s head and neck. Rina then twisted the robe as the warrior stopped, turned and swung the blade. Rina ducked while still hanging on to the robe. The blade whooshed over her head. She reached up with her left hand, grabbed the warrior’s wrist, and twisted it. The warrior’s arm bent, sending a sharp pain to her elbow. She dropped the blade. Rina let go of her wrist and continued to weave the robe around the warrior’s neck. The warrior struggled, wildly swinging her gloved left hand and blade. Rina ducked, swung around and coiled her body in several directions to avoid the spikes from the glove and the attached blade, and then she delivered a blow to the warrior’s head while never letting go of the robe wrapped around the warrior’s neck.
When the robe was as tight as it could be, Rina let go and dove, tucked, rolled and picked up the blade. She sprang to her knees facing her opponent who was busy trying to get the robe from around her neck. Blood soaked the robe from where she cut herself with the spiked glove while reaching for it. That mistake told the warrior she had one hand to try to free herself with—the right hand. Rina studied her opponent for a second, and then she looked around the arena at the audience. She saw the look of fear in their eyes and smelled the fright in the air. It burned in her soul like fire. It fueled the rage in her heart.
She then turned back to her opponent who stood five feet from her, screaming in anger and tearing at the black robe around her head. She stood and rushed the warrior and swung the blade. The blade sliced through the robe, and cut clean through to the other side, separating the warrior’s head from her body. The head plopped on the black shiny floor with a heavy thud. Blood spewed from the warrior’s throat like a volcano. The warrior’s body went limp and crashed to the floor next to the head.
Rina remained motionless, still holding the blade in the air where it came to rest, staring at the carnage in front of her. Blood spotted her face and body. She licked her lips and tasted the blood on her tongue. After several seconds, she turned to the Daughters of Fire and threw down the blade. Her dark hair was mangled and her perspiration glistened in the light, making the blood on her look like rivers coursing over her naked body.
“The challenge is complete!” exclaimed the First Daughter. “You are absolved of any wrong doing.”
Rina glared at the First Daughter. Her body was racked with pain and her mind dazed with exhilaration. She felt vindicated, but also sick that she had to kill one of her sister warriors. She glanced over at the body once more, wishing it peace in the afterlife.
“Rina of Jaywick, daughter of Rena, granddaughter of Dina,” called the First Daughter. “You have met the challenge after spending an entire cycle in the deprivation tank. Only the strongest of the Consortium have done this. Your courage and strength tells me you are the right person to take over the invasion of the fourth dimensional level. Come take your place among the Daughters of Fire. You have earned the right to be called a Daughter of Fire. You are now the Sixth Daughter of Fire.”
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