battlefield that he had not expected to see.
'Sir?'
'Yes, Malec, I heard you,' said Grod.
'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,' said Malec with more urgency.
General Grod was focused on the scene playing out before him on the battlefield.
'General?'
'Yes, Malec, order the weapons to be fired. Malec, do you see that person down there near the wreckage of that ship?' he asked as he handed him the binocs. 'Malec, I believe that is another Barudii warrior.'
'Sir? But they have been…'
'I know that, but nevertheless…he possesses the Barudii psycho kinesis. Fire the weapons now Malec; afterward I want that man in our custody.'
'Yes sir. It will be done'
General Grod was a dignified, dark-skinned man, a clone of the first generation Horva; a former slave of the Vorn. He raised a long range rifle and brought the scope to bear on Tiet; still kneeling in the wreckage of the Saberhawk next to Dorian. He was holding her body.
Grod aimed his weapon and fired a single shot at the Barudii warrior from the Horva's command base atop the ridge above the valley. Tiet tried to lift Dorian's body; to get her away from the battle. Something flashed around him and he could not move. All his strength was gone in a split second, followed by his consciousness.
MALEC activated the special electromagnetic pulse weapons in orbit. The weapons were well within range of the Barudii Sphere, drifting into it and magnetically attaching as the Sphere controlled its forces on the planet below. The weapons were hidden within old junked satellites. When the devices had attached themselves, they relayed a signal to the elite Horva command base.
The Sphere, busy with the surface battle, was not alerted to their presence as they impacted its surface as any space junk would; it appeared to sense no threat in the objects. Malec fired the weapons and an instant later an electromagnetic pulse enveloped the Barudii Sphere, frying its circuitry in a devastating wave of energy.
The Sphere never saw it coming. All power failed and the control of its forces ceased. On the battlefield, the Sphere drones and the mechs became confused and weren't able 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 robot warriors and air drones. The Horva were cutting down the mech-robots with massive firepower that was not being returned, and the air drones were crashing all around him.
They were smashing Horva into the dirt in great swathes as they fell out of the sky. Orin ran for the cover of the surrounding ridges. The battlefield had suddenly turned into pure chaos; he only hoped that Tiet had found cover.
A drone smashed into a group of Horva near Orin, and the blast from the impact sent wreckage flying in every direction, cutting down men and showering a mound of dirt and metal on top of him. He was unconscious and half buried in dirt and wreckage.
The carnage was over very 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, and it was not seen as cruel to the Horva since they viewed such a state as a burden. Those able to carry their own weight were able to rejoin ranks. Grod smiled at the outcome of his plan.
'Well done, Malec. Now I will have you fetch my Barudii prize and return him to the laboratory complex at Nagon-Toth.'
'Yes, Sir. General we're also picking up a massive object skimming the atmosphere.'
'Very good.'
The giant Barudii Sphere could be seen to the west. 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 one 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 stun blast. Dorian was still in his arms when they found him unconscious.
The Horva pulled the female body away from him, and 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 rallying the remaining Horva troops to move onto the complex where they would be regrouping with others to execute the General's next objectives against the Vorn. The Horva troops moved quickly to the northeast, following the General who led them upon his grevasaur.
By the time Orin had regained consciousness, the battlefield appeared barren of living combatants. The carrion birds and animals tended to the rest. It was earlier in the day than it had been during the battle, letting him know that he had been there at least overnight. A large piece of drone wreckage had landed across his body but had apparently been buffered by a significant mound of dirt carried in the impact of the aerial robot. He felt the weight, but no pain from broken bones or gashes in his skin. He was still buried up to his chest in the dirt with the wreckage overlaying it.
He moved the large piece of metal with his mind, sending it flying off away from him about fifteen feet. Then he mentally pushed the heavy dirt off as well, and inspected his mid and lower body for signs of injury. Other than a possible concussion, he appeared to be fine. He regained a standing position and scanned the valley floor. He found the wreckage of the Saberhawk and headed off for it.
The whole valley was littered with debris from crushed drones and aerial fighters. The remains of Horva also covered the landscape. Wild animals growled at him as he passed through the area; they guarded a smorgasbord. The sky was filled with birds. They swooped down onto the battlefield to collect their portion and fly away again. They scattered as he ran toward the wreckage.
He could hear screams coming from different places where wounded but living men were being attacked by ravenous beasts, and he thought them fitting for the enemies of his people, the destroyers of his race.
When he finally reached the remains of the Saberhawk, it was still on fire in a few small places and smoldering across most of the main body section. He 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 wild beasts.
A closer look at the area revealed another surprise. There were two more androids among the wreckage that apparently had been destroyed by Tiet. He went to one that lay on the ground with Tiet's blade still imbedded into its skull up to the hilt.
He withdrew the sword, allowing the robot's head to fall to the ground and placed it into the sheath next to his own sword. Looking back to the ground around Dorian's body, Orin could see what appeared to be several sets of Horva tracks. There were no dead Horva lying in the near vicinity.
Tiet would not have been consciously engaged by these brutes without having killed at least a few. He must have been unconscious. He 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. He buried both Dorian and Millo in a clear area among the wreckage of the Saberhawk. Then he kinetically pushed a large piece of fuselage over their graves to protect the site from predators.
He 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, and nothing was going to stop him from either retrieving the boy alive, or avenging his death.
WHEN Tiet regained consciousness, he was suspended inside a semicircular mechanism with a form-fitting black suit covering all but his head, hands and feet. What appeared to be metallic buttons covered the surface of the garment and more were attached to his feet, hands and around his head.
