THE Whiplash skimmed above the highest airway lane alone. It was only moments before they had reached the hill where Wynn's home was located. All that remained of it was a large heap of smoldering debris and one retaining wall. Kale could see the military presence all around it. They had already attacked, but they were still dispersed around the area like they were looking for something.
Kale hovered at a distance but the word must have already gone out to look for them. An armored carrier lifted off and was headed in their direction.
'What do we do?' asked Emil.
'What else, blow it out of the sky!'
Emil locked all guns and fired on the carrier. Sparks and fire billowed across its surface as it continued to come at them.
'It's still coming!!'
'Armor's too tough. Hold on!'
Kale brought the Whiplash around and fired the thrusters. The ship gunned away toward the city with the carrier lumbering on behind them. On the scanner several targets came into view.
'We've got company!'
Several faster ships took up pursuit as the Whiplash shot into the maze of tall skyscrapers. Kale buzzed around one of the buildings and full throttle came around on one of the pursuing ships. Emil took the initiative and blasted away at the military viper fighter, shredding its rear and midsection. The other three vipers reorganized and took up the pursuit again as the Whiplash spun away from the kill.
A symbyte controlled pilot locked on the Whiplash and fired a homing beacon. It attached to the hull undetected. Their orders were not to engage the ship, just place the homing beacon. The remaining fighters disengaged and the Whiplash burst away from the city toward the wilds beyond.
Normally it would have been a good place to hide with all of the huge trees and jungle area; it was easy to lose a ship in all of it. Most people were lucky to get out alive because of the vicious wildlife that dwelt there, including a large number of the feral Horva. But the tracking device would allow them to find that ship no matter where it went on the planet.
WHEN the airbus arrived at Nagon-Toth, Grod was already waiting on the platform.
'You might as well stay for a while,' said Wynn to the driver.
He nodded nervously as he looked from Wynn to the gathering entourage of Horva on the platform.
The door opened and he descended to his old friend.
'My friend, Daooth has already briefed me on the situation with Tiet. I'm confident you have a rescue in mind, yes?'
'Absolutely. We'll need the best team you can put together,'
'Of course,'
'And we'll need to use the transgate to get inside the compound where Tiet is being held.'
'At your disposal, anything you need to set him free,' said Grod. 'Daooth told me about some setup for murder.'
'It's not so much about that, Grod. It's those symbiotic creatures that controlled the Baruk. They've survived somehow all this time since the war; apparently taking up host among our people. They're behind this plot. I was attacked at my home by scores of soldiers, some under their control and others who have been caught up in this plot unknowingly.'
'What about Mirah and the boys?'
'I'm not sure yet, but I did see the Whiplash running and gunning toward the outskirts of the city, and Kale is the most likely to be flying it.'
'You're probably right. We'll concentrate on Tiet and hope for the best.'
'Grod, the boys are well-trained, both of them. They'll be alright.'
He smiled through the obvious worry he was feeling. 'I'm sure you're right. Now let's get to work.'
LUCIN walked into the monstrous hangar bay of the main city complex in the form of Estall. Assembled before him was a huge mass of symbyte-controlled soldiers and civilians, at least one hundred thousand of them; all under the influence of his angelic mind.
In all of the twelve cities, groups of symbyte-controlled soldiers and civilians from among both the Castillian and Vorn population were assembled. Lucin spoke to the assembled masses in every city through video feeds and satellite uplink.
'Now is the time. We are ready to ascend to complete power. It is time to assimilate all of those who are not part of my body. Arm yourselves and use stun on our prey if possible. Dead people are of no use to us. However if the warrior Wynn Gareth is found or any of the Horva who might come to his aid, they must be eliminated immediately. The special legion of warriors I have chosen will be with me as we follow the tracking signal and search the wilds for the boy, Kale Soone. Once we have him added to us we will be ready to move beyond this planet and conquer again. Our special envoy is to remain at the detention center guarding the King. He will serve as the bait to lure the Horva into a rescue attempt. Then we will end them. Go now and add to my body.'
The legions in every city moved on command and prepared for the night of conquest to come. Every symbyte-controlled man, woman and child headed out into the cities armed for capture or kill. No one would be spared. All would be liberated from their miserable individual existences to the serenity and power of Lucin's collective body. What was taken from the Baruk would be restored more gloriously in these peoples and the Lucin would rule again. The boy was the key. The people were obedient at this point but somewhat disconnected. Kale's powerful mind was what Lucin still needed to connect the people to one another and to him; then they would truly be one.
WYNN watched as the schematics for the detention center scrolled by, until he found the one he wanted. He motioned to the transgate technician to highlight one spot in particular.
'I think this would be a good location to get our team in,' said Wynn. 'It's a large hall that's behind most of the security barriers and should give us pretty easy access to the chamber where Tiet is being kept.'
'What about going into the chamber itself?' asked the technician.
'If Tiet can't get out of there from the inside then we won't be able to either,' said Grod. 'What about the shield controls for the chamber?'
'We'll have access from the panel in this room,' said Wynn as he pointed to a place on the schematic.
'Alright then, load up the destination and prepare to activate the gate.'
Grod and Wynn left the console and returned to the jump area. The rest of the strike team was already assembled in the designated area on the chamber floor. There were twenty top notch warriors from among Grod's elite guard, fully outfitted with plasma weapons, blasters, spicors and E.M. shields. The best of the best to rescue the one man they all still considered to be their king.
Wynn and Grod took up positions in the front as the transgate hummed to life. The technician locked the coordinates and punched the controls to establish the gateway. Before them, a wall of light snapped into place between the gate posts. The team all readied their weapons as the light faded and the destination came into view.
'Lets go get our king back!' shouted Grod to the team as he ran through the field with the others following.
Within the assembly hall of the detention center at Baeth Periege a wall of light snapped into existence. The two guards looking on readied their weapons. Two kemsticks whirled out of the energy portal into the symbyte guards before they could make a sound or fire a shot. The kemsticks flashed shut and then rebounded back to Wynn's thigh clips as he ran through the portal. The bodies fell as the team began to come through behind Wynn and Grod.
'Those were the only two guarding this room?' asked Grod.
'Apparently,' replied Wynn. 'We'll need to follow this walkway over here.'
They moved through the door, which-surprisingly-opened up without any access code.
Wynn might have thought it odd if he hadn't been so intent on Tiet's rescue. He looked at the schematic on
