The android stopped for a moment confused. Tiet looked on with grim satisfaction. He summoned the wreckage around him to attack the robot.
Man-sized pieces of debris flew off the ground toward Vale, striking the robot repeatedly. The jagged hunks of metal tore away the androids veneer of humanity, exposing the adomen skeleton beneath. The projectiles pummeled the robot again and again, tearing off an arm and parts of its torso.
Tiet scowled at his prey as he launched the mental attack, but nothing could dull the pain of losing Dorian. He hurled his blade at the robot. The sword pierced its adomen skull, driving hilt deep into the android’s head. The android fell over and did not move again. The battle still raged on around him. But Tiet knelt near Dorian’s body and sobbed.
GROD
Malec surveyed his monitors again to be sure. It was never a good idea to give the General premature information. He was a great leader, but not a patient man. “General, the weapons are fully charged and we have locked onto the orbital location of the giant Barudii Sphere,” he said.
Grod did not acknowledge his words at all. He was watching a scene on the battlefield he had not expected to see.
“Sir?”
“Yes, Malec, I heard you,” Grod replied.
“Shall I order the weapons to fire, General? “
“Wait just a moment.”
“But, sir, the window of opportunity is closing fast. Our junk satellites will drift beyond the Sphere’s location if we don’t act now,” Malec said with more urgency.
General Grod was focused on the battlefield again.
“General?”
“Yes, Malec, order the detonation. Malec, do you see that person down there near the wreckage of that ship?” he asked as he handed him the binocs. “I believe that is another Barudii warrior.”
“Sir? But they have been…”
“I realize that. Nevertheless, he possesses the Barudii power.” He paused. “Destroy the Sphere, Malec, but afterward I want that man brought into custody.”
“Yes, sir. It will be done”
General Grod raised a long range rifle and brought the scope to bear on the young Barudii. He knelt in the wreckage of an old Barudii warship holding the body of a woman. Grod aimed his weapon and fired a single shot at the young man.
Malec activated the special electromagnetic pulse weapons in orbit. The weapons, disguised as old junk satellites, drifted into the giant Sphere, magnetically attaching themselves as it controlled its drones on the planet below. The Sphere, busy with the surface battle, sensed no threat from the objects. Malec hit the destruct key.
One instant later, an electromagnetic pulse enveloped the Barudii sphere, frying its circuitry in a devastating release of energy. The electromagnetic wave penetrated to the core of the giant Sphere module and laid waste to every electronic circuit it came into contact with.
The Sphere never saw it coming. All power failed and the control of its drones ceased.
On the battlefield, the sphere drones became confused and unable to fight. The air drones flew off course and began to crash into the battlefield. Orin was still engaged with the Horva, taking on as many as he could, when he noticed the change in the robots and the air drones. The clones tore down the mech-robots without receiving any retaliation while the air drones crashed around them.
Orin ran for the cover of the surrounding ridges. The battlefield had suddenly turned into pure chaos. He only hoped Tiet had found cover. A drone smashed into a group of Horva near Orin. The blast from the impact sent wreckage flying in every direction. The debris cut down the men and showered a mound of dirt and wreckage over Orin.
The carnage was over quickly, and the battlefield quieted down as the men who remained alive began to reorganize and look to the wounded. The badly injured were dispatched on the spot. Those able to carry their own weight rejoined ranks with General Grod.
He smiled at the outcome of his plan. Victory was well within his grasp now. The destroyer was gone and only the Vorn remained. And they were proving to be no match. It had been a foolish thing for their masters to place all of their military hopes on their clone slaves. And now Grod gave them no choice-their muscle was taking over.
“Well done, Malec. Now fetch my Barudii prize and return him to the laboratory complex at Nagon-toth.”
“Yes, sir. General, we’re picking up a massive object in orbital decay. It will hit the atmosphere within the hour.”
“Very good.”
The giant Barudii sphere could be seen to the west within forty minutes. Fire trailed away as the atmosphere burned away most of its mass. The remaining charred wreckage would eventually drop into the Waron Sea to the northeast, approximately three hundred and twenty miles from the battlefield at Mount Vaseer.
Malec led the armed group to the wreckage of the Saberhawk and gathered up the unconscious Barudii warrior Grod had brought down with a tranq-round. One of the soldiers pulled the female body away from him then they bound and fastened the unconscious warrior within a shielded capsule for transport to the heavily fortified complex at Nagon-Toth. The General was already leading the remaining Horva troops toward their home base. There they would begin regrouping with more clones in order to execute the General’s next objectives against the Vorn.
By the time Orin regained consciousness, the battle was over. It was earlier in the day than it had been during the battle, letting him know he had laid there overnight. A large piece of drone wreckage had landed across his body, but it had been buffered by a significant mound of dirt carried in the impact. Orin felt the weight, but no pain.
He moved the large piece of metal with his mind. Then he mentally pushed the heavy dirt away and inspected himself for signs of injury. Other than a possible concussion, he appeared to be fine. Orin stood and scanned the valley floor. He found the wreckage of the Saberhawk and ran toward it.
The valley was littered with debris from crushed drones and aerial fighters. The remains of clone soldiers also covered the landscape. Wild animals growled at Orin as he passed through the area-they guarded a smorgasbord. The sky was filled with birds. They swooped down into the valley, collecting their portion then flew away again.
The birds scattered as Orin ran toward the wreckage. He heard screams coming from different places where the wounded clones were attacked by ravenous beasts. How fitting for the destroyers of my people.
When he reached the remains of the Saberhawk, it was still smoldering. Orin found Dorian’s body, but there was no sign of Tiet. Something must have happened. He would not have left her body exposed to the elements and the wild animals.
A closer look at the area revealed another surprise. Two more androids lay among the wreckage, apparently destroyed by Tiet. He walked over to one lying on the ground with Tiet’s blade still imbedded in its skull. He withdrew the sword and placed it into the sheath next to his own sword. Looking back to the ground around Dorian’s body, Orin saw what appeared to be several sets of boot prints. There were no dead clones in the vicinity.
Tiet would not have been consciously engaged by these brutes without having killed at least a few, he thought. He must have been unconscious. Orin spotted Millo several yards away among the cockpit wreckage. They had taken Tiet for a reason, but why would they want him alive?
First things first. Orin buried Dorian and Millo in a clear area among the wreckage of the Saberhawk. Then he mentally pushed a large piece of fuselage over their graves to protect the site from predators. Orin followed the tracks left by the Horva army’s departure. He didn’t know where they were headed, but he would die before he gave up on the son of his old friend. Tiet had become like his own child after all these years. Nothing would stop him from either retrieving the boy alive, or avenging his death.