Space Assassins: The Complete Series 1-5, page 91
Laskar sat there, floored. The implications were enormous. Their clever use of a system never before attempted had managed to do the impossible. And if they could keep the links in that chain intact, there was no telling how many attacks they could fend off without too much trouble.
The magic-saving benefits were exponential as well. Rather than draining one konus to keep them safe, fractional magic draws would occur, leaving the overall power of the individual konuses barely touched.
“Okay, I’ve got to see this in action,” Laskar said.
“After dinner,” Bud replied, shoveling another bite into his mouth. “Gotta have priorities, man.”
“Food takes precedence over the most badass defensive system in the galaxy?”
Bud flashed a grin. “Hey, I’m hungry.”
“I believe you may have to postpone both your demonstration, as well as the rest of your meal,” Corann said, hurrying back into the room. “I have just been informed that the spy network has word of some most unusual activity.”
“Unusual? How unusual we talkin’ here?” Laskar asked.
“A rather stealthy group of Council goons appear to be strong-arming a settlement not too many systems from here,” she replied.
“I hate to say it, but that’s kinda what they do,” Bud noted.
“True, but these are not only imposing their will. They are also taking the main planet’s power users under subjugation. And from the description of the attacking force, it seems to be very likely these are the same ships that previously brought Visla Jinnik to strike down uprisings, though he has not been seen in action yet.”
“Yet, is the key word,” Bud said. “I bet they’re just keeping their most powerful asset on standby until they need him.”
“My father is there?” Hap asked, a hopeful glow shining in his eyes.
“We do not know for certain, Happizano,” Corann said. “But there is a likelihood of his presence, yes.”
“We’ve gotta go, then!”
“On this we are in agreement,” Hozark said. “But do not allow your hopes to rise too high. I would not wish for you to be disappointed should this prove to be a false alarm.”
Bud was already on his feet and moving. “Laskar, come on. We’ve gotta get prepped to launch, like, yesterday.”
“Right on your tail,” the copilot said, following him in a quick exit.
“Demelza, will you please assist me in gathering the last few additional supplies? We might find them of use in this potential conflict,” Hozark said.
“I shall. Henni, please go with Hap and board the ship. We shall join you both momentarily.”
“You got it,” the young woman replied. “Come on, Hap. Time to boogie on outta here.”
The pair rushed off to their ship, eager to see what might unfold when they reached their destination. Hap tried as best he could to keep his anticipation to a minimum, but the prospect of actually seeing his father had given him that spark of hope that could easily flare into a flame if not carefully managed.
“Corann, we thank you for your hospitality, as always, and for the upgraded defenses to our transport. I hope we will not need to employ them, but if we do, I am sure they will come in very handy,” Hozark said.
“Best of luck to you all,” Corann said. “And good hunting. We shall have a few of our network observing from a distance. Summon them should you require assistance.”
“I shall, Corann. Thank you.”
“Fly safe, brother,” Prombatz said. “Keep an eye on him, sister Demelza.”
“I will do my best,” she replied, suppressing a tiny grin. To have not one, but three of the Five treating her as almost an equal was a heady experience, even for a stoic Wampeh Ghalian.
She and Hozark quickly gathered the last of their supplies, as well as a few additional slaaps and konuses of particular strength that might prove to be of particular use should they indeed encounter the Council forces the spies described.
Even if they could get Visla Jinnik to stand down, there was no way he would be traveling without a substantial force of Council muscle to bolster and secure the results of his efforts. The visla might be able to be removed from the equation, but not the mercenary and Council troops, and it was far better safe than sorry when it came to dealing with them.
“You guys ready to roll?” Bud asked after they boarded the ship and stowed their gear.
“We are,” Hozark replied as he and Demelza slid into their seats.
“All right, then. Laskar, you have our jumps dialed in?”
“I do.”
“The shorter path, right?”
“Yes, Bud. The shorter path. But it’ll put a bit of strain on the Drookonus making fewer, but longer, jumps.”
“I know. But time is of the essence here,” Bud replied. “Okay, let’s do this.”
He launched the craft and made a casual ascent, all for the benefit of the locals around Corann’s abode. But once in space and free from prying eyes, Uzabud engaged the powerful travel spells and set the ship in motion, jumping from the skies in a blink of an eye.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The jumps Laskar had plotted actually didn’t strain the Drookonus terribly much. The device did get a bit heated from the shortened cool-down period between jumps, but otherwise, it fared quite well as its stored Drook magic rushed Bud’s ship to their destination.
“This doesn’t look all that intimidating,” Bud said as they approached the planet in question from the darkness of space, making sure to draw near while the world’s shadow protected them from being illuminated by the system’s sun.
“Get us closer, Bud,” Hozark directed.
“You got it.”
They adjusted their angle of approach and slipped into a high orbit that allowed them to observe the surface as well as whatever ships might be circling below them in a lower path, but there were no lurking Council ships in the skies, only on the surface.
“Nothing,” Laskar said. “We’re alone up here.”
“At least so far as Council ships go,” Bud said, noting a handful of small, civilian craft exiting the atmosphere.
“This does not seem right for what we were led to believe was the situation,” Demelza said. “Might this be a trap?”
Hozark looked at the goings-on down below with cautious eyes. It seemed that all of the magical hostilities were taking place on the surface, while none of the Council ships remained in orbit.
It was highly irregular, to say the least. And not what he expected to find.
“We find ourselves in an unusual situation,” he finally said. “There are some of Visla Ravik’s forces down below, and I can sense traces of Visla Jinnik’s magic. He is present, but I do not sense Ravik anywhere near. If we can overwhelm Ravik’s men and distract them, we might be able to pull close enough to Visla Jinnik to prove his son’s safety.”
“And then he will cease complying with the Council’s will,” Demelza noted. “With the visla on our side, we should be able to drive back Ravik’s forces with ease, even if Visla Ravik should make an appearance.”
“Yes. But first we must separate the main body of ground forces from the support of their ships. Bud, can you and Laskar draw them away?”
“Does a Bundabist shit in the woods?”
“I shall take that as a yes, then. Good.” Hozark turned to Laskar. “We have a long-range skree aboard now. Should we require assistance, you are to summon the Ghalian ships both within this system and beyond. They will provide support.”
“What ships?” the copilot asked. “I didn’t see any ships, did you, Bud?”
“Nope,” the pilot said with a grin. “But they’re Wampeh Ghalian. You know they won’t be seen if they don’t want to be.”
Hozark ignored the comment and continued on. “The force on the ground appears to be relatively small. Judging by the use of power, it is highly likely that Visla Jinnik is with the forwardmost of their party, though I have sensed his power at the rear as well. It is entirely possible he is being employed to deal with the insurgents on all fronts.”
“That’s gotta be a bit draining, even for a visla,” Bud said.
“Potentially. But it gives us a better chance of avoiding direct conflict with the visla before we can make Happizano’s presence known.”
“You’re taking the kid with?” Bud asked.
“Yes. He shall descend with Henni and remain within my ship, shimmer-cloaked and standing by until such time as his father’s position is acquired. While the visla might detect the cloaked craft, none of the Council lackeys seem to possess the power to sense it.”
“You sure about that?” Laskar asked.
“So far as I can discern,” Hozark replied. “In any case, this is our best option. Demelza and I will make our way through their ranks while you two draw away their support ships. Splitting their forces like that will give us a far greater likelihood of being able to separate the visla from the others.”
“And if you don’t?”
“Then we run,” Hozark said.
“Run? A Ghalian?”
“There is no shame in retreat, Laskar. Especially when said retreat is strategically sound.”
“I know, it’s just not exactly something I’d expect to hear from one of you guys, is all.”
“Well, now you have. Bud, prepare to open your proverbial can of whoop-ass, if you would. Demelza and I shall launch our shimmer ships shortly.”
“We’ll be ready, Hozark.”
With that, the master assassin hurried off to gather Henni and the boy to inform them of the plan and load them onto his craft. Their approach would be stealthy and silent, as would Demelza’s.
Once the two assassins had landed, they would make their way into the Council troops’ ranks in their shimmer cloaks and lay silent waste to as many as they could, while seeking the exact location of Visla Jinnik.
At that point, once he was found, they would focus all of their skills on reuniting the boy with his father and turning the tide of the conflict. Having the visla freed of the threat against his boy would provide them a valuable ally, and one who could definitely shift things to their advantage.
Henni and Happizano were both unusually quiet as the little shimmer ship bumped and jarred as it descended to the surface. The air turbulence on this world was a bit harsh in the upper atmosphere, and that led to an uncomfortable ride.
Hozark was a skilled pilot, and they knew no harm would befall them––at least not on the descent––but this was it. This was what they’d been waiting for. Finally, Hap would see his father. But it wouldn’t be easy, and there was no telling what nasty surprises the Council might have waiting for them down below.
Demelza flew a fair distance away, planning to set down at a position that would allow her to cut through the ranks on her way to join Hozark. By splitting up like that, they hoped to find the visla all the faster, for the longer they delayed, the more likely was their discovery.
“Stay here until I summon you,” Hozark said once they had set the ship down at the outskirts of the skirmish. “When I have located your father, only then should you exit the safety of this vessel. Until that time, the shimmer cloaking will protect you from discovery.”
Hap shifted in his seat but remained silent.
He stared hard at the boy. “Happizano, it is imperative you follow this direction. Are we clear?”
“Yeah,” he replied.
“Don’t worry,” Henni said, resting her hands on the pommels of her knives. “I’ll look after him.”
Hozark nodded once, then donned his shimmer cloak and stepped from the craft.
The fighting was close, but not so close that he emerged right into it. And camouflaged as he was, Hozark was able to move a fair distance through the battling men and women before he was forced to engage by sheer proximity.
The men he slayed dropped silently to the ground without so much as slowing his progress, and in the chaos of battle, no one noticed they had fallen by an invisible hand.
As Hozark made his way through the fighting masses, it became clear to him that this was no more than a rather small rebellion being squashed by the Council’s mighty fist. It was no wonder Ravik hadn’t bothered to come himself when he could deploy others to do his dirty work.
But despite his power hanging in the air, Visla Jinnik was still nowhere to be seen.
“Demelza, what news?” the cloaked assassin asked the empty air nearby where a Council goon suddenly fell for no apparent reason, a bloody hole sprouting from his back.
“No sign of Jinnik,” she replied. “And something about this feels wrong.”
“I agree,” Hozark said as he pulled a konus from the wrist of a dead Council goon. “We must make quick work here. I believe this whole endeavor has not been as it seemed. And on top of that, we have no idea what Bud and Laskar may actually be up against.”
He could not have been more prescient in that comment, as far above, the former pirate and his copilot were engaged in a dogfight with the dozen or so Council ships they had drawn from their positions on the ground.
Strafing them with a vicious magical attack from above had taken the craft by surprise, and more than a few sustained significant damage from it. But now, as a group, they were coming back, and doing so with force.
“They’re moving to block us from jumping,” Laskar noted.
“Yeah? Well, we’re not trying to jump,” Bud growled as he spun them out of the line of fire of a pair of closing ships while simultaneously casting a trio of stun spells in hopes of disabling their pursuers’ Drooks and knocking the ships out of the equation.
One of them seemed to fall victim to his ploy, abruptly drifting off at an angle, leaving the fight. The other, however, avoided the attack and stayed on their tail.
Fortunately, the modified defensive spells of the remaining ships mounted to the hull provided a robust shield against the barrage of magical attacks flying their way.
“This is getting to be too much,” Laskar said. “I don’t know how much longer we can hold them off.”
“We just need to distract them until––”
“Laskar,” Hozark’s voice crackled over their close-range skree. “Summon the others. They will handle the Council ships.”
Laskar snatched up both skrees and spoke into the smaller one. “But what about––?”
“Visla Jinnik is not here,” Hozark cut him off.
“Wait, he’s not?” Laskar said.
“No, he is not.”
“Shit, so we’re out of luck.”
“No, we are not. I know where he is.”
“You do?” Laskar asked with surprise.
“Yes. Plot a course to Gravalis, and tell Bud to meet us at the rendezvous point.”
“On it,” he replied, then switched to the larger, long-range skree to call in their backup.
They hadn’t seen the other Ghalian ships, but that’s how shimmer cloaking was meant to work. When the Council craft around them suddenly began bucking and shaking from invisible attacks a few minutes later, however, they knew the message had been received loud and clear.
The ship shook from impacts as Bud peeled away from the skirmish.
“What are you doing?” he asked as Laskar still had the long-range skree clutched in his hand. “Use both hands, idiot!”
“What? Oh, shit, I didn’t notice,” he said, quickly stowing the device. “I’m not used to using two of them at once. Look out!”
Bud reacted and narrowly avoided a rapidly approaching Council ship. One of the cloaked Ghalian craft lay into it with a flurry of spells, knocking it from his path.
“Damn, that was close,” Bud said as he banked sharply out of the way, pulling from the danger zone as quickly as he could, then headed to the far side of the battlefield.
It was not too far away, but not close enough to be readily engaged by the hostile forces. It was a choice location to meet should they need to do so while still within the atmosphere.
He set down fast, the tone of Hozark’s message having relayed the urgency of it clear enough.
The sensation of the two cloaked Ghalian ships docking on the larger craft’s hull was slight, but on the surface, and in full gravity, the pilot and copilot noticed. In space, however, the Ghalian often came and went without a trace.
Happizano stormed through the ship straight to his room. He was clearly distressed by the turn of events.
“Shit, the poor kid,” Bud said, watching him pass.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got him,” Henni said, following in his wake.
“So, what happened?” Laskar asked as Hozark and Demelza joined them.
Hozark turned the konus in his hand over and over, studying the bright metal. “Come. I shall show you.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
With Hap and Henni safely aboard their mothership, Hozark led Bud and Laskar onto the battlefield while Demelza stood guard in her shimmer cloak at the ship’s entrance, just in case.
They didn’t expect any to come looking for a fight. Not this far from the main engagement. Not where so many lay dead or dying. There was nothing to gain here, only death and misery.
“What’s this you were saying about Visla Jinnik not being here?” Bud asked. “You said you felt his magic. And I know you, Hozark. You’re not wrong about that sort of thing. Not ever.”
Hozark gave his friend a pained little smile. “And I was not mistaken this time, either,” he replied.
“I’m sorry, I don’t follow,” Laskar interjected. “You said he was here, but he wasn’t.”
“That is correct, in a sense.”
Hozark walked among the corpses feeling for traces of the magic he sought as he walked. After a long moment he paused and bent over one of the Council soldiers littering the ground.
Far more of the rebel forces lay dead or dying. They had been overwhelmed by a magical barrage the likes of which they simply could not withstand. But, nevertheless, they fought on, and some of their attackers fell.
The Council soldiers wore the insignia of Visla Ravik, but many of those nearby were lacking any identification whatsoever. And most were Tslavars. Given the Council’s relations with the Tslavars, they were almost certainly Mercenaries in Council garb.
