When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars) (110 page)

             
Eruk noticed the wind had changed. The smoke blew clear as a transport descended onto the field. Other black armored humans hung out the sides, rifles trained down on him. He did
n’
t fear them. They would all be dead soon enough. He reached back with his upper arm, grabbing the small man and cracking his arm. The Warlord turned to face his attacker, surprised to find him without armor of any kind. Just dirty, plated coveralls.

             
“Captain
,”
the bigger human called out
.“
We have to leave now
.
”

             
The small human held up a device, something just big enough to fit his hand
.“
Just go. This is my fight
.”
The armored creature climbed aboard the ship and it roared out of sight, sending dirt and debris flying.

             
Eruk turned his attention away from the shuttle to his new foe. The pole in his chest hurt terribly, but it was far from fatal. The Druuma was still alive and would
n’
t suffer a new host, so it had devoted its power to keeping the Cthanul breathing.

             
“You
,”
Eruk said, spitting black blood in the pathetic huma
n’
s face
.“
You lose
.
”

The human laughed. Why was it laughing? It held up the device, the small button that barely fit in its hand. Why was it laughing.

              “No
,”
the human said
.“
I win
.”
He squeezed the button.

             
From inside the shuttle, the Archangels watched the ground disappear in a monstrous explosion. Acres of land morphed into a wall of bright yellow fire as the ordnance field outside of Metts finally went. This time they rode the shockwave fine, lifting higher and higher into the atmosphere as the ground dissolved into flame. Kaileen fought with the damaged engines, urging them to stay on.

             
No one spoke. They had survived and accomplished their mission, but it was a hollow victory. Josh lay in the center aisle, white biofoam oozing down the side of his armor. Alexa stared out the window wearing a thousand-yard stare. Fares nursed a broken hand; h
e’
d tried to knock out a stone-faced alien with a right hook.

             
Kaileen grabbed the radio
.“
Cameron? Are we clear
?
”

             
“No
,”
Dax said suddenly
.“
Christ, no
!”
He was looking out the window. They had
n’
t been able to see it before under the smoke cloud, but from low orbit it looked like nothing but the end of all things.
Gehnom
, an unfathomable weapon, hung over the surface and prepared to fire
.“
What is it doing
?
”

*              *              *              *              *

              Vanwa watched the explosion from his seat, sighing with disappointment. He had been warned that Eruk djun Tolan was a maverick, but to watch the Cthanul waste good resources on a suicide charge angered him. There were many more battles to come, and the Warlord had been a strong leader. At the very least, it confirmed the M
a’
Ara
k’
s suspicion that the Boxti had let in too many of the weaker species. As a lower caste, he had once sympathized with the thralls. No longer. They had demonstrated their inability to function without stronger hands at the reins.

             
“We are prepared to fire, Great Commander
.
”

             
Vanwa took no pleasure in the order. He had to remind himself that he was simply a vessel to serve the great conquest. With barely a sign of recognition, the M
a’
Arak activated the terrible weapon.

             
“Exterminate them
.
”

-                           
XV                            -

The Master Control Unit awoke from stasis. It had been knocked out of commission, though it was unable to determine by what. The sensors that fed the program information seemed to be offline. No matter, its coding was simple and the directive simpler still. It ran a quick diagnostic, reaching out to all the other machines under its keep. After less than a second, the situation was clear. There had been excessive damage, but the unit was far from lost. Some of the raw material around the host had already been appropriated.

             
Drawing on reserve power from the nearest external source, the MCU began emergency repair and refit operations. Estimated probability of success: 13%. Happily, the program accepted the odds and set about its task.

             
It started to hum.

-                           
XVI                            -

              The humans threw everything they had at the juggernaut, but it was a wasted effort. As
Valley Forge
smoldered and a hundred smaller ships drifted away, the Harbinger delivered its message.
Gehnom
stood at center stage, arms aglow with roaring yellow flames. With almost peaceful ease, the beams of fire shot down into the surface, burrowing through the crust of the planet like a knife through butter. The crust peeled away like paper, exposing the raw underbelly of New Eden. Powered by unimaginable forces, the lances cleared a path to the planet core. As they dug, the streams grew wider and wider, opening a pit into Hell itself.

             
Magma shot out from the mantle like blood seeping from a wound. It barely had time to coat the landscape before the massive ship fired the primary cannon. The trident launched a bolt of orange lightning, the tip made from a dense metal and shot at near light speed. The kinetic force traveled down the hole to the solid core of New Eden, striking with energy equal to an burning star. A crack formed  down the center of the moon-sized ball of iron. Light poured from the inside of the core, intensifying until it was blinding. Vibrations shook the planet with the force of a thousand earthquakes.

             
Aboard
Midway
, Hiro could hardly breath. The crew stared like children, completely oblivious to the horrible reality. All of the Admirals gathered at the various monitors, each in varying stages of shock. Ray huddled in a corner, tears flowing endlessly down his face. Nothing felt real.

             
“Commodore
,”
Earl called out
.“
W
e’
re getting readings from the weapon
.
”

             
Hiro nodded, but his frien
d’
s words were like the buzzing of an insect
.“
And
?
”

             
“I
t’
s somewhere in the yield of a trillion yottajoules. The computer ca
n’
t compute it accurately
.
”

             
Tha
t’
s a first
, Ray thought.

             
Admiral Walker coughed
.“
Tha
t’
s a goddamn supernova
.
”

             
“I
t’
s a foe. Fifty-one ergs
.”
Ray wiped his cheeks with the palms of his hands
.“
That the Boxti could harness that kind of power is...impossible
.
”

             
A strange knot turned in Hir
o’
s gut. He swallowed, focusing on not vomiting in front of his crew.
This is truly the end of all things. What can hope to stand against such power? Who would dare?

             
No one moved. In every ship in every corner of the system, the humans watched as the weapon began to dim. The beam shrank to a thin line and finally disappeared, leaving behind a perfect hole to the center of the world. Earl, still trying to make sense of the computer reading, nearly fainted when he saw the aftermath. Whatever had powered the juggernau
t’
s shot, it had dealt the planet a mortal blow. The core was gone.

             
With a sound unlike any heard before by man, New Eden began to die.

-                           
XVII                            -

              Zev had no idea what was going on up there, but on the ground it was armageddon. Fissures opened in the street at will, spraying fiery columns of magma into the sky. The earth bucked and rolled like a dog shaking loose fleas. Buildings toppled to the streets below. It was the end of days, and he was right in the middle.

             
They had watched from the roof as the monstrous juggernaut fired some sort of energy weapon into the planet. Almost immediately the world began to rock. Zev had no scientific background to speak of, but his gut told him to get the hell off of New Eden. As if on queue, their ride appeared from behind a crumbling tower, jets firing at full burn. The Loki transport was fast and agile, even though it looked neither. With a hot dog shaped body and six independent rockets, the sister to the Valkyrie was a service vehicle that earned its keep. Today, it was a rescue chopper arriving for an eleventh-hour save.

             
Zev was at the door to the roof, his back aching from pushing against a squad of angry Boxti soldiers. The Scouts had fallen back from the entrance with a platoon of aliens at their heels. Two had taken bolts to the back and lay dead three stories below. Everyone left, including Tim and Mary, huddled by the shaking transmitter and waited for the shuttle.

             
“Paradise, this is School House.
I’
ve got you in my sight. ETA, thirty seconds
.
”

             
Gabriel smiled, giving everyone a thumbs up. Zev had to admit, the officer had been remarkably composed throughout the ordeal. H
e’
d seen stronger men break for much less. There would have been no shame in it, but the LT was made of tougher stuff.

             
“I think drinks are on us, School House
.”
Gabriel clipped the radio to his vest and waved for the pilot, pointing to a flat section of roof. He had no intention for them to land; the building was rocking like a boat in a storm. The shuttle just needed to be close.

             
As the shuttle flared to slow its approach, the back ramp began to drop. Zev watched as the Loki spun on a dime and pointed its tail at them, lowering to a few feet from the deck as the exit opened. Soldiers stepped out, holding on to tethers and reaching for the Scouts. Tim ran forward, holding Mary over his head and handed her to one of the men aboard. Others from inside left their seats and hopped down to the roof, rushing to take the door from Zev. He stayed in place, helping them buy time for the rescue.

             
After the rest of Shadow boarded, Gabriel called for his platoon sergeant. H
e’
d barely spoken the word when there was a sound like a thunderclap. The floor collapsed, splitting the building in half. Everyone fell to the ground, scrambling for a handhold as the world tilted and turned. The inside of the radio station burned. Some fracture had opened underneath the street and a river of lava road a slow path through the city, consuming everything. Zev held onto the frame of the door with one hand, his other wrapped tight around a soldie
r’
s wrist.

             
The roof bowed more, spilling one of the rescuers into the gap. He fell screaming into a bubbling pool of glowing rock, thrashing for only a second before succumbing to shock. Gabriel hung from the edge of the building, his lower half dangling over the flames.

             
“Sergeant
,”
Gabriel cried out
.“
Get onto the transport
!
”

             
Zev howled as he pulled the private up onto the roof. His shoulder burned but he pushed it out of his mind. The chasm had grown to ten feet as the building continued to split. It was impossible to reach the officer, and the transport had pulled away to avoid colliding with the withering structure.