Zein: The Homecoming (30 page)

The photon missiles crashed into the
Manhattan
sending Admiral Koshkov crashing into one of the consoles. The battleship, like the
Brooklyn
, was buffeted by the intense firepower of the new ships, still some distance away and still issuing lethal payloads.

Trap. How could they be so gullible?

‘Return fire,’ he ordered.

‘Sir, we will weaken the force-field, not sure the ship can take the hits,’ said the soldier manning the controls in front of him. Admiral Koshkov steadied his body that swayed with the multiple hits, he knew it was the strong zinithium barrier that had saved them.

‘Soldier, if we don’t attack at some point, the force-field will fail. We attack.’ The soldier saluted and returned to his controls just as another two missiles slammed into the ship.

‘Patch me into the
Brooklyn
and
Elanda
.’ He was joined by Colonel Jeffries and General Corder, their faces on the split screen.

‘We need to attack or they will pummel us to death,’ said Admiral Koshkov.

‘I have a plan,’ said General Corder and then hesitated knowing what the reaction would be to his crew on the deck before continuing, ‘We need to use the atomics.’

The cautious Admiral Koshkov sucked in his checks and the usual unflappable Jefferies paled, although they were expecting the order. The crew on the three Command and Control decks held their breath.

‘We have not tested since injecting the zinithium to the bombs,’ said Admiral Koshkov. Those near General Corder carried on their tasks to take the
Elanda
into orbit to face the incoming threat, with one ear on the conversation. General Corder knew this and he also knew his office meant that he had to make the hard calls.

‘We have no choice. When those ships close in on our position they will have the strategic advantage.’

Admiral Koshkov, even after their recent disagreements, couldn’t help but admire the American and helped him make a swift decision.

‘We will make you some time.’ The conversation was at an end and the two officers signed off, gave the necessary orders and the
Manhattan
and
Brooklyn
closed in on a headlong collision with the enemy attack. General Corder ordered ten of the Cobras to launch to protect the troops left behind.

On the ground, Kabel had made contact with Tate in the column behind them. Out of the twenty five levitation tanks, only twelve remained, with the Venings sent from the Xonian star cruiser, strafing the troops and tanks creating a field of death.

Kabel calculated that before the trap had been sprung they were in range of the heavily damaged city wall which meant that with a concerted push they could threaten the city and nullify the Venings’ attack. They would not fire into their own troops surely?

‘Kabel, the gates!’ It was Tate over the communication link. Kabel twisted his head to look out of the tank vision field and saw streaming out of the gates, around
twenty thousand Xonians, with the objective to crush the remnants of the force sent to defeat them.

‘Tate, pull together the troops, we need to head on a direct collision.’

‘That’s suicide, we can’t fight off the Venings and defeat this army,’ said a disbelieving Tate. Beside him Belina was shaking her head also in disbelief. Kabel hurriedly explained his idea and Tate reluctantly saw the logic. They fed the commands through the remaining officers of the depleted troops and soon the twelve remaining tanks and the soldiers raced towards the advancing Xonians, skirting the hell holes that had consumed their fellow soldiers.

The Venings continued their attacks and the Expeditionary Force fought back. They had lost nearly three full columns but these were all battle hardened veterans and they pressed on with grim determination as the high velocity bullets from the Venings tore into them.

Kabel’s tank took a massive hit and slewed to one side, crashing into the ground. Kabel and Gemma were thrown against their cockpit strappings. The driver in front of them smashed his face against the console, stunning him instantly. The soldier behind them, loading the gun, had his neck broken when his body was flung to one side.

Smoke filled the tank; the turret had all but been blown off. Kabel’s head was spinning, then he felt an arm around him, releasing the straps, and, half aware stood up, still dizzy.

‘Careful now Lord Chancellor, take it easy,’ said Kron, his good arm wrapped round Kabel. Kron pulled him out of the tank where other members of the Malacca clan where on hand to help.

‘Gemma?’ said Kabel, his voice barely audible.

‘We got her, she is fine and we have the driver as well,’ said Kron.

‘The Venings?’ said Kabel, finding his voice.

‘No worry, Lord Chancellor, the
Elanda
has sent help,’ reassured Kron, his face covered in blood from a nasty cut on his forehead.

Kabel looked up into the sky and saw a squadron of Cobras engaging the enemy ships. The Venings had pulled away from targeting the troops on the ground and were busy protecting their own lives…and losing.

‘Right, Kron, get the troops ready to engage the enemy,’ said Kabel, the buzz in his head receding.

‘Ready, Sir,’ said Kron, with a look that made Kabel glad he was on his side. Kabel looked around him and the surviving American, Russian and Malacca troops were all positioned ready to fire a devastating round into the advancing Xonians who seeing their ships blasted apart, were slowing down their advance.

Too late.

The thousands of Expeditionary Force soldiers sent a wall of steel and photon bullets into the defending ranks, slicing through the approaching troops like a knife through butter. The alien ranks stuttered and then, when the next round tore into them and they saw the Cobras turn their machine guns onto them, began to flee back to the city. The Pod were only lightly scathed as the enemy had targeted the weaponised element of the attack. Dominion was now in full battle cry and his troops charged after the retreating backs of the defenders.

Above them there were almighty flashes, that had all the soldiers and residents of the city look into the sky. The two expeditionary battleships were in heavy engagement, taking huge hits. The
Elanda
was behind them and suddenly the two destroyers parted, allowing the
Elanda
to launch its deadly cargo.

The nuclear bombs sped from the photon missile tubes in the
Elanda
, already fifty times more powerful than those launched against Nagasaki and Hiroshima, now enhanced by zinithium injected into the core, to make them another hundred times more powerful. Corder, in the
Elanda
, knew that even one of these bombs could demolish a small planet by destroying its whole environmental system.

On the Xonian star cruiser, Prince Jernli, who had agreed to the previous false retreat to set up the trap thought out by Zylar, was just considering what demands he could make of his father after such a victory. He had initially been annoyed when he found the whole meeting in Zylar’s room was a ruse to snare some human into unwittingly helping them spring the trap. He calmed down when they told him that it needed to be as believable as possible if the girl was going to fall for the entrapment.

‘Your Highness, two missiles locked on,’ shouted one of his officers manning the radar.

‘Let them try, we will swat them away and destroy every one of them,’ said Prince Jernli.

The missiles hit the shields. The shields had no answer to the power of the missiles and evaporated on impact, the rolling thunder of the blast ripping into the side of the star cruiser…Prince Jernli did not have time for last thoughts as he, his men and his ship imploded in a powerful flash and ceased to be.

The other destroyers saw the destruction of their command ship and fled, leaving the crews in the damaged
Manhattan
and
Brooklyn
cheering madly.

On the ground the troops, who had to turn their heads to one side at the intensity of the flash, raised a throaty cheer, still smarting from the recent battle.

‘That was some show,’ said Tate, walking up to Kabel and Kron with Belina.

Kabel agreed, watching in awe the events in the sky. He then adjusted his gun at the side of his armour and hauled Gemma to her feet. Gemma was a little bruised but he saw the toughness in her and when they locked eyes they both knew they loved each other, all doubts gone.

Kron cleared his throat and Kabel flicked his eyes to him and saw the expectation in his gaze. Tate and Belina pulled their seckles from their belts and activated them. They were ready.

Kabel saw the remaining men look across to him for the next order. He may have been Lord Chancellor by name before but now he had earned the title by his actions. He pulled his seckle and activated both the seckle and his body shield as the charging Pod fighters tore into the retreating Xonians. His chest swelled with emotion and pride; they fought as one.

‘Time to take this city. Remember the Oneerions are our allies but hunt the Xonians down, every last one of them,’ Kabel yelled at the top of his voice. Kron smiled his wolfish smile and with Kabel leading them they charged towards the city across the remainder of the Skegus Plain with the sole purpose of victory.

Tyson burst out of the lift, straight into a waiting squad of Ilsid, sent by Zylar to stop him. Tyson’s energy was strongly coursing through him, he brought his seckle to block an attack by the nearest Ilsid and then he spun around and sank his seckle into the back of the soldier, killing him instantly.

Zebulon was not slow either, as he thrust his trident into one of the Ilsid and then clicked a switch and a wicked blade slid out of the bottom. He retracted the trident from the now dying Ilsid and stepped to one side to miss the falling body and then swung the trident so the sharp blade cut the arm off another soldier. One of his guards then finished the attack by driving his trident deep inside the body of the injured creature.

The fighting was intense and one of the Changelings took a fatal blow much to the anger of Zebulon and though Tyson was in a world of his own, he still had to marvel at the strength and skill of the Changeling.

‘Tyson, over here.’ It was Hechkle who was carrying an injured Bronstorm clutching his side. Only one of the US Marines had survived the ferocious fighting on the first floor and he was providing much needed cover for the pair.

Tyson ran across, forcing his temper down, almost swallowing it in his effort to control what was building up inside him. He grabbed the other arm of Bronstorm, and they helped him into the wide tunnel to the Transportation building, just at the time another squad of Ilsid entered the tunnel, blocking their way. Tyson could not see Zylar in the group facing him. That didn’t matter. No one was going to stop him reaching his mother, whoever it was.

‘Patch me up,’ said Bronstorm to his friend. Hechkle hesitated initially. ‘Do it, man, give me a Medicare pack.’ His inaction over, Hechkle pulled one from one of his compartments in his armour and Bronstorm took it from him, tearing the cover off and then stuffing it down inside his armour where the wound was. Hechkle then helped him up.

Zebulon and the three remaining Changelings and the US Marine, whose name for the life of him Hechkle could not remember, dispatched the remaining first group of Ilsid. The tunnel was now littered with many bodies. The Ilsid at the far tunnel started to fire on them. The group crouched behind some marble garden tubs that had contained what had been flowing sycamore-like trees – now blasted to smithereens.

The lift opened and Morrison with the first load of prisoners piled out into the body-strewn corridor, immediately ordering the women with him to crouch as the lethal photon shots bounced off the walls. Morrison crawled to where the others were after sending some men to scan the corridors either side of the lift. He didn’t want any surprises.

‘We have all the prisoners, what is happening here?’

‘Zylar escaped with my Mum and we will need to get though those soldiers in front of us,’ said Tyson. Morrison accepted the position on the proviso they wait for the
remaining prisoners. Tyson kicked the floor in frustration. It wasn’t long before the second group exited the lift and immediately took defensive positions. Amelia waved to Tyson and received no response. Her boyfriend was focused on the obstruction preventing him rescuing his mother. Fear rose up inside her. She knew what that meant.

‘Tyson! No,’ said Amelia, just as Tyson’s eyes went a bright blue and his face a cold pale grey. He stood up and advanced on the remaining Ilsid. They increased their fire but it simply bounced off Tyson’s force-field. The cold fury took over. He had placed one of his seckles back into his armour and he stretched out his hand, almost in a dreamlike state.

‘Everyone, avert your eyes,’ shouted Bailey, knowing, like Amelia, what was to come.

Pure blue power pulsated from his fingertips, cascading into the Ilsid who all died horribly. The power sent windows and beams crashing to the floor. All the time Tyson stepped forward relentlessly. He dropped his hands and advanced on the twisted metal and bodies at the end of the corridor.

The final group of prisoners offloaded with the children taking advantage of the latest lull in fighting…the lull didn’t last long.

‘Watch out,’ said Bailey, as Xonians entered one of the corridors to the left of the lift. The two SEALs there fought back.

‘Quickly, into the tunnel,’ shouted Bailey, grabbing hold of Delilah’s arm and launching her into the tunnel, which now was their only escape.

The prisoners all ran and the remaining soldiers laid on the covering fire. Hechkle was the first to reach the end of the tunnel, just as Tyson stepped through into the Transportation building. There was a loud creak as one of the metal beams began to give away. Hechkle reached up
and using all his considerable strength he braced his body against the beam.

Bronstorm saw the danger and hurried the survivors through the gap remaining as Hechkle took the strain. Morrison brought up the rear with the two remaining SEALs, most of his other men dead or dying. One of the men keeled over when a Xonian caught him with a shot.

Morrison went to help Hechkle, but the Fathom soldier shook his head, the strain showing on his face. The remaining SEAL was killed and Morrison realising the Xonians were streaming into the end of the corridor that they had just moved from, stepped through the gap.

Bronstorm was on the other side beckoning Hechkle to run.

‘No, my friend, if this comes down the whole tunnel collapses. Get out of here now,’ Hechkle pleaded with Bronstorm, just as a photon shot slammed into him, then another. Hechkle didn’t utter a word, just grunted as the shots hit him and he gritted his teeth, as blood spread from his wounds. ‘I didn’t pull you out of that well to die here, remember your promise to look after Amelia,’ he said, gasping for breath.

Bronstorm was beside himself, realising at this very moment how much he truly loved this man mountain. ‘I will, I will, but…,’ he said.

‘Go.’ Heckle cut him off. It was the last thing Bronstorm heard from his guardian and friend. Morrison grabbed hold of the protesting Bronstorm and pulled them both to safety as the steel girders crashed down onto Hechkle, sealing the tunnel and ending the life of the Fathom soldier.

Bronstorm was yelling for Hechkle and Morrison and one of the few remaining soldiers grabbed hold of him and half carried, half pulled him into the transportation room. There they were greeted by a sobering sight.

In the large transportation field there were the remnants of Zylar’s force, probably around fifty men he had kept back, with no intention of leaving his hard-earned army ready to defend Quentine. A few moments ago the Ilsid were just about to be teleported when Tyson rushed in from the tunnel, followed by the rest of the group. Zylar grabbed Leila and was now ordering his men to attack, whilst holding Leila around her waist, with his other hand holding a seckle to her neck, a think pinprick of blood welling up beneath the point of the seckle where it cut into the soft and yielding flesh.

The Ilsid poured over the ramp and charged Tyson who stood there like a rock. There was an almighty explosion and the doors of the Transportation building from the street were blown open. There was intense fighting outside on the streets but Bailey saw Kabel, Tate, Belina and Kron at the forefront of the reinforcements. Half the Ilsid immediately peeled off to engage with this new threat, the others attacked Tyson.

In the main entrance from the street, Kron brought his barbed mace attached to his stump down on the arm of one of the Ilsid, smashing it in the process, and swung his favoured machete to sever the soldier’s neck. He then launched his body into the midst of the attackers, ablely supported by Tate and Belina. Gemma held back. When the main doors burst open she had seen that Zylar held Leila and was edging towards the console near the teleport. By skirting around the room hugging the walls she could approach Zylar from behind. He had not seen her, with his attention fixed on the explosive Tyson, who was swatting the Ilsid out of his way; the power building in him so much that Gemma had to shield her eyes from the brightness.

Zylar was fuming. He saw his children and prisoners in the hands of the humans and saw his vision of a master
race slipping by. Tyson was closing the distance between them and the Ilsid who were unfortunate to be in his way suffered horrible deaths from the power emitting from the hybrid’s body. Zylar saw a young woman run to Tyson’s side with someone he also recognised from the battle at the Southern Palace. It was his human friend carrying a photon shotgun.

Zylar shifted his weight, slinging Leila to one side so as to free his gun arm. He didn’t notice Gemma to his side until he realised someone was grabbing hold of Leila, wrenching her away from him.

He slashed downwards with the arm holding the seckle aiming for the young woman. Gemma saw the blow but was too slow and the seckle caught a glancing blow on her side of her head making her let go of Leila’s arm. Leila was at the same time pulling away from Zylar, taking advantage of the loosened grip as his other hand was firing his photon gun at the mixture of Malacca and human troops.

Kabel saw Gemma take the hit from Zylar. With a roar he sliced through an Ilsid’s chest and pushed him away from him as he raced towards Zylar, throwing his seckle at the head of his uncle. Leila had nearly freed herself from the grip of Zylar and for a minute he relaxed his grip further as his attention focused on the wickedly spinning seckle sent from Kabel. Zylar leaned back and the seckle spun past his neck and on its return to Kabel crashed into the chest of Bailey, cutting it deeply, before returning to its owner’s grip. Bailey let out a scream of pain. Zylar shoved his seckle back under his armour and grabbed the wriggling Leila again, hauling her back from freedom.

When those that survived the battle looked back later no one really knew what happened. People remembered there was an almighty beam of energy emanating from
Tyson, causing Amelia and the injured Bailey to be thrown away from him like rag dolls. Amelia catapulted some fifty yards into the marble wall of the room before sliding down in a heap, motionless. Bailey was flung the opposite way, crashing into the US Marines streaming into the hanger. He laid stunned, blood seeping from his wound, barely conscious. The only one left standing within close distance of Tyson was Zebulon. His natural shield was active and he had pushed it outwards so everyone could see the low eerie light.

Zylar was also blasted backwards. Gemma, only momentarily dazed by the seckle, was on the floor and kept her head down when the blast came. While everyone was stumbling around dazed Gemma took her opportunity by grabbing the half conscious Leila and dragging her away from the console.

‘Lie here, Leila, you will be safe, I have to see how Amelia is,’ whispered Gemma to the near unconscious Leila, glancing across the room at the inert figure of her best friend. Leila half mumbled, half shook her head in answer. Gemma left her position and was running past the console next to the transportation portal when a hand snaked out and grabbed her ankle, causing her to fall awkwardly. Zylar hauled his body up and realising it was Kabel’s sweetheart grabbed the winded young woman, who immediately fought back.

‘What is it with you humans, do you not know when to stop fighting?’ he said, before slamming his pistol onto her head. Gemma blacked out. He pressed the final coordinates and hauled Gemma’s inert body into the force-field and the zinithium crystals flared up and in a moment he had gone.

Tyson was out of control, his body pulsating with power, those not injured by his blast kept back by the raw power. Zebulon wrapped one of his arms around his waist and
Tyson fought back, sending beams of light into Zebulon, who remarkably, took everything that Tyson could send at him. He spread the fingers of his other hand over the head of Tyson and the power began to pulsate into Zebulon. It was like the Changeling was sucking in the magics.

Indeed, this was what he was doing; the energy entered into Zebulon, mixing with the innate magics he had. He both revelled in was repulsed by the magic but held on. The power dulled and then was extinguished from Tyson, who fell to the ground, his body ravaged. With his eyes half closed he saw Zebulon join with the other surviving Changelings and share the dangerous magics as they tried to eject it from their bodies, something they eventually did.

Tyson’s vision was blurred and his memory poor. He saw the damaged body of Amelia, crushed against the wall and the medics trying to revive Bailey. He didn’t know whether his mother was saved or if his other friends had survived. He fell into an uneasy unconsciousness.