The Hidden Battle Revealed, page 14
part #1 of Seberian Series
“One of the problems is the fact that the Leviathan soldiers are so fast that they can dodge our rounds. If we mount this new immobilizing head on these heavenly metal rounds, our guys can hit them. Or at least come closer,” explained Lonan.
“What immobilizing heads?” asked Sevran.
“I’m glad you asked. Go stand down range, and I’ll show you.”
“No thanks.”
Lonan pulled a round from another clip and showed the group. “These carry enough electrical current to knock out a full-grown man for five to six hours. It won’t kill them, just knock them out cold,” said Lonan as he glanced at Cloin. “Let me show you. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get a volunteer, so I brought someone else.”
He reached down and pushed some keys at the computer station. At the far end of the range, a small hatch opened. Lonan raised his rifle and took aim. For several seconds, nothing happened.
Suddenly they could see the metallic silver reflection of two eyes peering from the darkness. An instant later, a two-meter-tall wolf charged out of the hatch and ran toward the group at full attack speed. Nothing stood between them and the wolf except the empty floor of the shooting range. Lonan found the wolf in his scope while everyone else jumped backward and started to panic.
Ahren raised his rifle to fire when Lonan shouted, “Wait, don’t shoot!”
Lonan fired a shot, but the wolf continued its charge. He had missed. “Oops,” said Lonan as he took more careful aim.
From behind him, Sevran yelled, “What are you doing, man?
Shoot it!”
Lonan fired another round and, this time, hit the wolf in the neck. An electrical current surged through the animal’s body. Instantly it fell asleep. It fell to the floor, sliding from its momentum, until it finally came to a stop just centimeters from Lonan’s feet.
He turned to the worried group behind him and said, “I could have hit it the first time. I was just playing with you.” As he turned back to the wolf, his raised eyebrows proved otherwise.
“Not funny,” said Telgrin as the others stepped forward cautiously. He stooped down and examined the wolf more closely. “Won’t the power of those rounds cause it to go right through the skin?”
“No. I designed them with a specially engineered blunt tip so that they won’t kill anyone. But they’ll definitely hurt,” answered Lonan.
Telgrin reached over to touch the wolf when Lonan yelled, “No, wait don’t!”
The moment Telgrin touched the hair of the wolf, he received a serious electric shock. The current threw him backward a meter but wasn’t enough to knock him out.
“Wow!” yelled Telgrin.
Sevran and Averine tried not to laugh.
“I tried to tell you. Don’t touch.”
“Is the wolf OK?” asked Averine as she reached over to try to get a closer look.
“He’s fine. He’s just sleeping. We’ll release him back into the wild later,” answered Lonan.
“OK, enough of this hands-on presentation. What is our battle-ready status?” asked Kilgron.
Sevran answered, “All shuttle, fighter, and vehicle conversions are well under way. We should be done by the end of the day tomorrow.”
“We’re nearly done with our missile interceptors,” said Telgrin as he tried to shake the pain from his hand.
“We need to take a team to retrieve more armor so that I can make more rounds,” added Lonan.
“I can lead a group of your men there,” said Armon.
“We’ve completed as much recon of the camps as we can. The missions are planned, and now we’re training the teams,” reported Cloin.
“I have one more weapon I’m finishing now,” said Lonan. “OK, finish your assignments as soon as you can. We don’t have much more time,” commanded Kilgron.
As the group split up and went their separate ways, Armon pulled Ahren and Cloin aside.
“While I go get more armor, I need you to bring more of our soldiers here and prepare our home for lockdown.”
“Yes, Father,” answered Cloin and Ahren.
“Be on your guard. I sense that this battle will begin sooner than we expect,” warned Armon.
Cloin and Ahren nodded in agreement.
Chapter16
While the Helion and Seberian forces continued their preparations, Devakin and his group of Leviathan elite finished loading into a small Nemaron transport. The elite was a hand-selected group of twenty soldiers who were particularly powerful and ruthless. Devakin led this team personally. After loading all their weapons, they blasted off from the main hangar of the Nemaron command ship, on course for Helion.
In the main hangar, Sevran worked to finish mounting missile launchers on the sides of his motorcycle as Lonan and Telgrin finished bringing back all their equipment from the shooting range. As they entered the shop, Lonan received a transmission from the command center.
“There are sensors down in sector nineteen. Could you send someone to fix them?”
“Again? Yeah, I’ll take care of it,” answered Lonan as he turned off his com and turned to Telgrin.
“I’m going this time. I need to get some fresh air and clear my head. I’ve been cooped up here in the shop too long. And apparently no one else can get it right.”
He picked up a tool pouch and walked to his waiting motorcycle and began loading tools. He also loaded several clips of the new electric rounds. Sevran looked up from working on his motorcycle and asked, “You’re not going by yourself, are you?”
“No, I’ll get some help.” He turned to a soldier standing guard at the hangar door and said, “Corporal, grab a bike. I need your help.”
The soldier immediately ran deeper into the hangar to get a motorcycle.
“Wait, I’ll go with you,” said Sevran.
“No, you have too much work to do. You’ve been slacking off while the rest of us have been working.”
“What? I was in the medical bay taking care of patients,” snapped Sevran as his face started to turn red.
Lonan smiled as he continued loading his bike. “I thought we were all given orders to work on vehicle and weapon conversion.”
“What?” asked Sevran, who was so upset that he could hardly speak. Finally he calmed down when he realized he was being messed with. “You know that when I’m needed in the medical bay that takes priority over shop work.” He relaxed his brow and went back to what he was doing.
Telgrin stood facing the other direction with a big smile on his face. He loved it when the brothers argued.
Just then the Helion soldier rolled up on his motorcycle, and Lonan threw his leg over his. He turned to Sevran and said, “I know you hide in there because you don’t like to get your hands dirty out here with us.” He started the engine before Sevran could respond.
Sevran stopped what he was doing and jumped to his feet as he tried to yell over the sound of the engine. “Hands dirty? Haven’t you seen the blood and guts that I get covered in? What are you talking about, ‘hands dirty’?”
Lonan threw on his helmet and lifted his hand to his ear, hinting that he couldn’t hear his little brother. As Sevran walked in his direction, trying to yell over the sound of the two motorcycles, Lonan kicked his into gear and rode off through the open hangar door. The corporal followed behind.
As Sevran watched them ride out the door, he could see Telgrin laughing quietly to himself. Sevran wadded up the dirty rag he had in his hand and threw it at him.
“Shut up!”
Later that day, Ahren and Cloin arrived at their home high in the mountains of planet Seber. As they entered, they were greeted by two other soldiers while three children ran past as they played.
“Father wants all of our available soldiers on planet Helion,” reported Cloin. “Leave a standard protection team here at the base.”
“Of course.”
They then each went their separate ways to tell everyone and prepare to move out.
Many kilometers away from the Helion base, in sector twenty, the small Nemaron transport flew just above the tops of the tall trees that covered the mountain ranges. They slowed and landed in a small clearing in the bottom of a valley. Once they landed, the back hatch opened, and all twenty Leviathan elite marched out, carrying massive rifles. Devakin followed them.
“Begin scanning the area, and jam all their transmissions. We walk in from here, but stay hidden; we don’t want to draw their attention.”
On the far side of the planet, Genon patrolled the outer atmosphere while riding his horse. Suddenly he pulled back on the reins and looked at the planet Helion. His eyes blazed with white light as he turned and flew back toward the planet.
Back on planet Seber, Cloin walked through the dining room with bags of weapons. Suddenly she stopped, and her eyes lit up. Just then Ahren stepped in the room with his eyes also ablaze.
“They’re on Helion.” They both walked out of the room and down the long hallway entrance. There another of the Seberian soldiers whose eyes were also bright white met them.
“Keep the families safe. The rest of us will find the enemy,” ordered Cloin as they all stepped through the front door. The other nine soldiers were already kissing their wives and children good- bye as they loaded their weapons into a transport. Moments later they took off into the sky, on course for Helion.
Meanwhile Lonan and the Helion soldier had reached the mal- functioning sensor in sector nineteen and had started to work. The sensor was in a small valley that opened away from the base. It was a camouflaged dish-shaped sensor that slowly rotated on a base that housed all the electronics. It stood nearly two meters tall but was still blending into the surroundings well and could not easily be seen.
They had already disassembled much of the control panel in the base and were working to find out what had caused it to go offline. The soldier kept watch as he scanned the area and occasionally retrieved equipment from the motorcycle for Lonan.
“How did this happen?” Lonan asked as he popped his head out of the base of the sensor. “There is one circuit board that is completely fried and another that was cleanly disconnected. It almost looks like it was tampered with.”
What they didn’t know was that Devakin and his soldiers were very nearby, in the next valley across the large hill in front of them.
The Leviathan soldiers and Devakin moved quickly through the thick forest as they climbed up through a valley and came to a clearing on top of the nearby hill. From this position, they could see through the mountains and had a clear view of the Helion base off in the distance.
“Set up here, and get some readings. The rest of you secure the area,” barked Devakin as he held scanning equipment to his eyes to get a closer look at the base.
Two of his soldiers set up a small tripod and placed a telescopic- looking piece of machinery on it. They then attached it to a small portable computer they carried in a hard case. They pointed the telescope in the direction of the base, and the computer immediately began scanning the entire mountain. Three-dimensional images of the outside and inside of the base began to appear on the screen. The computer took measurements and completed calculations of every piece of the mountain base.
As Genon entered the inner atmosphere of planet Helion, Abaddon suddenly appeared from a shadow. He was mounted on his horse and flew directly across Genon’s path. With his sword drawn, Abaddon reached out with a heavy swing, aiming for the angel’s throat. Genon saw him barely in time and leaned back just far enough to avoid the demon’s blade.
Abaddon circled back and said, “That was close. I nearly sent you home.”
Abaddon then raised his sword and shot balls of fire, which Genon deflected as he quickly drew his shield. Abaddon moved in to attack again. As they collided in sword battle, sparks and flames flew in all directions. They both began to circle in a figure-eight flight pattern. As they met in the center, their blades and shields collided.
“I don’t have time for this,” Genon thought to himself as his eyes burned bright white.
On the next pass, he fired a tremendously large bolt of lightning from the tip of his sword, scorching Abaddon enough that he and his horse writhed in pain as they drifted off into space. That allowed Genon enough time to get away, and he flew quickly toward the planet.
Back in sector twenty, Devakin looked out across the valleys as one of his soldiers ran to him and reported, “We’ve found something, sir.”
“Show me.”
They walked down the heavily wooded hill awhile until they came to a spot where a narrow gully opened into a valley down below. Through the clearing that this created, they could see the two Helion motorcycles, but neither Lonan nor the soldier. Devakin lifted his scanning device to his eyes to get a closer look.
Just then the Helion soldier stepped into view as he walked to the motorcycle and rummaged through one of the storage compartments. He walked back toward Lonan, who was still trying to figure out what had happened to the sensor.
“It doesn’t look like anyone broke into the control panel. I can’t understand how this happened.”
“Sorry, sir, but I don’t either,” said the corporal as he made his way back to Lonan with some tools. Suddenly three rounds silently flew down through the trees and into his chest.
The impact threw him backward, and he hit the ground. Lonan whipped his head around to find the man lying on his back. He rushed to him, pulled him behind one of the bikes, and checked his vitals. He was dead. Lonan hung his head as he tried to figure out his next move. Just then three more rounds came down from the hillside and hit the top of the bike he was hiding behind. They hit the computer console and took out the entire electrical system, including the communications.
“No! I’ve got to call for help,” said Lonan as he looked at the other bike.
Just then a rocket came down from the enemy position and completely destroyed the second bike. Lonan ducked from the flying shrapnel. After the debris stopped falling, he looked over the top of the remaining bike. He could see Leviathan soldiers moving down the hill through the trees with their weapons drawn and pointed in his direction. He reached up and tried to turn on the side shield of the bike, but it had been destroyed.
He then manually pulled out the quad-barrel gun that deployed from the rear sides of the bike. He took careful aim and fired on the nearest Leviathan soldier. The round hit him and sent him flying backward several meters. It sent an electrical current all through his body as he lay on the ground unconscious.
The rest of the soldiers continued down the hill, completely unfazed by the fact that one of their men lay convulsing on the ground. Lonan fired another shot and hit another Leviathan. He fired a third shot, but this time they were aware and used their speed to dodge the electric rounds. He fired again. Some rounds they dodged while others they couldn’t, and he took out two more of them.
As Lonan was taking aim again, he saw through his scope that one of the soldiers was ready to fire a rocket. He saw him pull the trigger as a blast exited the back of the launcher. Lonan jumped immediately, and a second later the last motorcycle burst into flames. He crawled over to his bag and hid behind the sensor platform. He filled his pockets with electric round clips and grabbed his rifle. He took aim and fired several rounds. Unfortunately each was dodged.
The enemy was drawing very near, so he crawled backward, down into a deeper gully. He then turned and looked up into the hills on the far side as he tried to find a better position. Several of the Leviathan soldiers slowly moved down and out of cover of the trees, into the narrow clearing of the valley. They had nearly reached the place where the remains of the two motorcycles lay smoking.
Just then two arrows flew down from the wooded hill on the opposite side of the gully. The Leviathan turned and returned fire but couldn’t see anyone. They fired recklessly into the trees as the drugs began to affect them and they fell to the ground, unconscious. This drew the attention of the rest of the Leviathan as they poured down into the clearing. More arrows came from the trees and hit two more Leviathan. Moments later they too hit the ground. The rest of them fired into the trees in every direction.
While they were distracted, Lonan took the opportunity to move from his position in the gully and took out another Leviathan.
Suddenly someone grabbed him from behind and lifted him out of the gully and threw him across the clearing. His back slammed against a tree. When he collected himself enough to look up, he saw Devakin standing fifteen meters away.
“There you are. Hiding in a hole,” sneered Devakin.
As Lonan had flown through the air, he had dropped his rifle, which now lay five meters away. He looked at it, as did Devakin. Lonan jumped to grab the rifle, but Devakin ran at such an incredible speed that he reached it first and kicked it into the trees. Lonan jumped to his feet and punched Devakin in the face twice. The impact had no effect on him. He responded by punching Lonan in the face, which sent him flying backward another fifteen meters
“I hope you’re not the best that your planet has to offer. If so, this will be far easier than we thought,” jeered Devakin as he slowly walked toward Lonan.
Just then Cloin and the other nine Seberians flew down the hill at lightning speed. They attacked the Leviathan soldiers in hand-to-hand combat. Quickly they disarmed them and threw their rifles into the trees. The combat was so fast that Lonan could only see them as a blur. As he watched, he struggled to figure out if it was real or part of the spinning sensation in his head.
Devakin turned his attention back to Lonan and reached down to grab him when suddenly Ahren jumped from the trees and tackled him. They rolled on the ground as they fought until Ahren jumped to his feet and turned to face the giant before him. Devakin was at a definite size and strength advantage; however, Ahren quickly showed his opponent that he was not only faster but also better trained.
