“Is that safe? I thought you said never tolet it down?” I asked.
“Sir, Gafar and Luke will alert us if anyonelooks our way, and while I do not know how you create your thoughtshield, I suspect you can crack it just enough to let me in withoutgiving away our position,” answered Darnath.
I thought about it for a minute. On one handI did not like the idea of letting a telepath poke around my head,but on the other hand I suspected this was a test. “Very well, giveme a moment and I will see what I can think of,” I replied.
I envisioned my thought shield as a rocksphere around me, completely and totally protecting me fromeverything, with no doors or windows. Then I pictured a door on it,and I cracked it just a little. Just on the other side of the doorI saw what I knew to be Darnath, but he looked more like a spiritthan a person. He was holding a box. I reached out and took itinside my sphere, closing and erasing the door behind me. I openedthe box to look inside when out of it came what looked like aholographic movie which wrapped around me. Suddenly I was elsewhere…
Chapter Fifteen
I was crouched behind a makeshift barricadefiring my wands for all they were worth. Bolts of energy wereflying all around us as the Greenskins advanced on our position.Humans were coming up behind them using portable shields to protectthemselves from our weapons. They fired through the ranks of theGreenskins, not seeming to care if they killed a few of them in theprocess. As they slowly approached it became evident that there wasno way to stop them. There were just too many of the Greenskins,and we could not penetrate the shields the humans were using.
A loud, gruff voice called out from behindme, “We will make our stand here! They will not reach the primarycomputer core! This far and no further will they come! Today theywill learn the true strength of an Imperial soldier!”
I recognized the voice to be that of GeneralTizar, head of the colony’s security forces. I knew we wereoutgunned and outnumbered, but still that brief speech helpedbolster my confidence and bravery. I looked over at Andreya who wasnext to me behind the barricade. “Andreya, remember the idea wetalked about a few months ago, the one where we combine ourpowers?”
“Yes, Darnath. Now is a good time to find outif it would work,” she replied.
“Indeed,” I replied. I put down my wands andfocused all my power on the approaching army of Greenskins. Idumped on them all my personal fear and feelings of helplessness. Iassaulted them mentally with all the power I could muster. Andreyaused her powers to alter the appearance of the Greenskins, makingthem think that we had rushed their line and were in amongst them.It worked beautifully. Their advance halted and they turned on eachother. The humans behind them were screaming out orders, trying toget control of the situation but the Greenskins were overcome byfear of each other and did not respond. Soon all of them weremassacred, bodies piled everywhere.
“Well done, Andreya,” I said.
“Thank you, but they still keep coming,” shesaid.
All the Greenskins were gone, but the humanskept advancing. Andreya and I were too drained to try anotherattack like we did to the Greenskins, so we grabbed up some wandsand fired for all we were worth. The shield line of humans justkept inching forward. It seemed we were doomed when a largeexplosion ripped through a section of wall between our position andthe advancing humans. Then suddenly all the bodies of theGreenskins lifted off the ground and flew right at the humans!
The last of my fellow Black Adders pouredthrough the breach in the wall wielding all their psionic powers inperfect unison. “Charge!” came the command and we all rushed forth.It was strange to follow flying bodies into battle, but theysucceeded in breaking through the shield wall. For the first timesince the invasion we were winning! As we reached the formerposition of the humans many of us ditched our wands and took up themore powerful staves that the enemy had recently started usingagainst us. Just when we thought we had them on the run, the othersappeared.
The Seven, as we took to calling them. Theyseemed to be the greatest of the Magi, and ruled over them. Theyjust stood in the middle of the corridor with no protection.“Shields!” came an order from someone, and everyone who couldgrabbed up shields from the fallen Magi and formed a wall with themin front of us. Just as we got our shield in place they started tofire. The shields held, but we had no opening to fire back. Itseemed we would be locked in this stalemate until the shieldsfinally gave out, but then one of the Seven stopped firing and spunhis staff around until it was vertical and while chanting slammedit into the ground. The force of that blow shook the veryfoundations of the colony and sent us flying. The shield wall wasbroken and they proceeded to pound us with their bolts. Screams ofdying people were all around me as I lifted a shield back intoplace and began to return fire. Soon others began to do the same,using the small area of safety I had created. One of thetelekinetics behind me started throwing shields at the Seven, buttwo of them successfully blocked everything thrown at them. Thenthe one in the front traced a semicircle towards us in the airwhile chanting. Suddenly an arc of energy leaped forward andslammed into us. I was thrown against the wall, and then everythingwent dark …
I gasped for breath as suddenly I was back inthe hollow with the Black Adders. The room was still spinning abit, and my body ached from where I had been hit during the battle… but it was not I who had fought that battle, it was Darnath. Mymind reeled, and when I got my senses back I looked at everyoneagain. I felt as if I knew them better. I recognized all of themfrom that fight. They had all been there by my side; well, byDarnath’s side. “Oh, wow … I feel as if I was there,” I said.
“Yes, sir. I gave you a copy of my memory ofthe event, so in a way you were there. You experienced everythingthat I did, and know everything that I know about that battle,”said Darnath.
“What happened after that?” I asked. I neededto know more.
“Well, sir, I was the first to recover,”started Kellyn. “I heard sounds of fighting further down the hall,but knew I had to tend to the wounded first. I could only find fiveother survivors. I treated their wounds as best I could there inthe hallway. I was not able to do much before more of the Magi cameback and found us. Jerran ordered us to run as he opened fire witha staff he had recovered. To everyone’s surprise he did not shootat the Magi, but rather the wall next to them. This ruptured theside of the colony and opened the chamber to the outsideatmosphere, sucking the Magi out in the process. We were far enoughaway to be saved by one of the colony’s airlocks, which slid shutand kept us alive. From there we worked our way back to the centralcomputer core, hoping to unite with anyone that was left. By thetime we reached it the battle was over. There was nothing butbodies and pieces of bodies everywhere. We tried to find …” At thatpoint she broke down crying. Andreya did her best to comfort her,and everyone was quiet for a while.
“Black Adders, I am greatly impressed andproud to know you. General Tizar was right; you showed them what anImperial soldier really is: strong, unwavering, loyal and fearless.You kept fighting, even when it was obvious you could not win. Evennow, months later, you are still fighting. You could have given uplong ago, but instead you held out. First it was to get informationto Tom and his forces, then to my squad and now finally you areattempting to get to the gate and cut off all hope of retreat bythe Magi.” I paused and looked them over, then said, “As rankingbattlefield officer I hereby award you all with the Medal of Honor.You are without question some of the finest men and women thisEmpire has ever produced!”
They all looked stunned, but squared theirshoulders. A little bit of pride and strength seemed to creep backinto them. “Now then, let’s clean up this camp and get to thatgate.” More than ever I wanted to get them safely off this rock. Ilooked at Darnath and asked, “Did you detect any indication thatthey suspected I was not alone?”