Grey held his rifle in a death grip, pulling the trigger as hard as possible and walking the muzzle across the whirlpools of energy guarding the mad Favoured to overwhelm his defences. It was impossible to concentrate on the Psion, his powers twisting Grey's vision until his head spun and gut churned. His brain was telling his eyes that the Favoured couldn't possibly be hovering with his body shredded across his field of view in a hundred pieces, but all he could see were flashes of blood and machinery strewn across the sky. Blinking lights on his HUD were the only reliable indicators of the Favoured's presence and Grey locked the suit's servos to follow the reticles provided by its sensors. Stick's work was paying massive dividends now. Without the little tech wizard's tweaks Grey would be firing into the air erratically.
His squad fell into formation around him, collapsing under the pressure the Favoured was emitting and Grey despaired, certain their plan would fail and take the HLA with it into death. Just like the 'Troubles', as the Theocracy named them. Once a Favoured arrived humans could not resist.
The Favoured pointed and Grey's years of experience screamed of incoming death. A blast of light filled his vision, the visor of his armour darkening to protect his eyes, and he stumbled. Blinking rapidly and shaking his head to clear the spots from his eyes, Grey gaped at the disintegrating catwalk, the shriek of metal filling his ears. The enemy Favoured was twitching, spurts of blood pouring from his wounds as he hobbled back towards the ship. Grey pulled raised his rifle and pulled the trigger. Red warning screens flashed in his HUD, innumerable weapon failure indicators springing to life. He dropped the broken rifle and scrambled to pick up a weapon but froze when he caught sight of the broken form of Talassar slumped on the walkway.
"Shit. Medic!" he roared, dashing to Talassar's side and popping open his emergency medkit. A command popped open the seals on his gloves and they fell to the ground. In quick succession he injected a series of nanites and sprayed bandages onto the wounds he could see, but his suit was telling him the Favoured was slipping fast.
"I don't think he's going to make it lieutenant." The squad medic Indra murmured as he knelt down beside him and surveyed Talassar's condition with his wrist unit.
"He has to. Too much depends on him." Grey stared at the young Favoured and continued his work on sealing whatever wounds he could find. [Without Talassar, we can't deal with that Favoured who ran back into the ship.]
"Not much I can do." Indra grunted, but he pulled out his extensive suite of tools and got to work, micro lasers suturing wounds as the squad formed around them to shield the Favoured's body.
"Doesn't seem all that special right now." One trooper remarked. "Got what he deserved."
"Say that to his face then." His companion remarked, firing a few bolts toward some retreating Guardsmen.
"Is this what you wanted, Talassar?" The voice was so faint Grey almost couldn't hear it. He looked down at Talassar's vacant eyes and grimaced. [This is bad.]
"He's going into shock." Indra said, plunging a needle deep into Talassar's neck.
"Never." Talassar continued to whisper. "Then what did you want?"
"Hold on, Favoured! I'll save you." Grey worked alongside the medic, feverishly clamping down on open wounds to stem the flow of blood.
Talassar's trembling hands reached up to his bare chest, gently rubbing over his heart, his fading voice bolstered for a moment as he hissed. "Freedom. That was Niobys' dream, not yours. What do you want?"
Indra pulled away and slammed his tools shut. A hiss of disinfecting vapour covered his body and Talassar's injuries. "That's the best I can do. If he survives the next hour, then there's hope."
Grey glanced at his HUD and surveyed the state of the battlefield for a moment, the flickering lights showing dozens of deaths every moment. He took a deep breath and checked the rifle one of his squad members handed him.
"The Favoured said we had to reach the Jump Drive chamber so we'll see if we can make a breach along one of these corridors." He quickly marked some locations for his squad and cast a glance at Talassar. "Suva and Ross. Carry the Favoured." The two grumbled but secured their weapons and readied a makeshift stretcher Indra passed over.
"Survive?" Talassar's sudden question was clear enough for the whole squad to hear and Grey looked down in joy. If he could talk, then he must be healing fast enough to assist them soon. Grey turned back to check on the fallen Favoured but froze as his HUD's sensors went haywire. Curses filled the squad channel and Grey gasped at the horrifying energy readings rising from Talassar. The Favoured's eyes snapped open and a wave of force pushed the entire squad away from him, a hissing roar tearing from his throat. "Yessss. And to survive, Kuzev and the Guardians must die."
Talassar rose into the air, hovering over them, a crimson cape of energy streaming from his shoulders and a black halo spinning into existence above his head. He looked down and Grey's head spun when their eyes met, an inhuman coldness invading his mind and rifling through his thoughts.
"Kurak el Novast. Tsuka ro-ek!" The Favoured's broken voice poured into his mind and Grey struggled to understand the foreign tongue. He almost felt like he could, but all of a sudden the pressure lifted and Talassar raised his hand, a spinning red disc forming on his palm. "Weak Talassar. This is all you can do." Talassar chuckled and gestured at Grey. "Run into the ship human. I shall lead the way." Talassar floated forwards and threw the disc. It slashed through the air, Grey's suit warning of intolerable temperatures in its wake. With a flash of light it burst against the ship, peeling away the hull for a hundred metres and exposing surprised Guardsmen and HLA troops who paused momentarily to gape at the sudden destruction.
"We let the Guardians damned Ravager into our headquarters!?" One of the HLA troops cursed, his terrified voice filling the channel as his legs gave out underneath him.
"Shut up Suva." Indra croaked, his weapon pointed at Talassar. Grey saw half his squad targeting the Favoured and shook his head slightly, trying to calm his surging terror. [So Talassar is the mysterious Ravager.] The Guardians Favoured Blade hidden so deep only his moniker and rumours of the radiant crimson cape even mentioned his existence.
[I wonder if the Commander knows Talassar's identity.]
This changed all their plans. A regular Favoured was bad enough, but the Ravager couldn't be contained, however peaceful he appeared on the outside. Talassar was truly cunning. A Psion that powerful behaving weak and injured made Grey let his guard down. However much Talassar reminded him of the last time he saw his brother, now Grey realised what he faced and there was no comparison.
Unconcerned by the weapons, Talassar faced Grey once more, the inhuman eyes peeking deep into his mind. "Fear can wait. What are you waiting for, human?" Talassar hissed, gesturing at Invincible, and shot into the ship, his cape streaming light in its wake. None of the squad opened fire, stunned by Talassar's inhuman speed.
"Open fire at the Guard on the ship and cover the Favoured!" Grey shouted, his voice shaking even as he dashed behind the Favoured and fired into the broken battleship. [Not much point in thinking. The Commander just said to follow the Favoured and I may still get a chance to ask him about my brother.] The sound of energy weapons exploded around him, breaking his thoughts and he jumped, his suits thrusters igniting to take him through the broken hull. Scouts from the squad dashed past him and homed in on Talassar's position, following the tracker he carried.
They shot through blood soaked corridors. Wrecked suits and weaponry melted into the walls were the only signs of battle, their passage eerily silent except for the distant sounds of battle. Talassar left nothing of his enemies behind except terrified HLA troops shivering in the corners, their minds broken by the psionic energy the Favoured was releasing. Just like the Troubles. Grey waved for two of his squad to attend to the troops and sent an update to the Commander. Things were rapidly getting out of hand.
A psionic scream ripped through his mind and the squad stumbled, careening into bulkheads and metal walls. Talassar's tracker was blinking a few metres away in his HUD, moving slowly into what Grey's map indicated was the Jump Drive chamber. Grey took a shuddering breath, suddenly terrified of what was happening. He'd only heard of this sort of power once before. It meant a powerful Psion was dying.
A line of text flared on his HUD, demanding his attention.
[Just follow the plan. Don't worry about the Favoured. We've taken control of the bridge, but we can't shut down the Jump. Focus on the Drive chamber.] The Commander's words made him frown. That meant no one else was close enough to them to support an assault on the chamber, but with a shake of his head, Grey ordered his squad forwards. He rounded a corner and came to a screeching halt when he caught sight of Talassar floating above a flickering console. Waves of power crashed into him when he stepped into the room, energies he couldn't understand overwhelming his mind and armour.
The Jump Drive was barely visible behind a transparent screen. It looked like a mass of metal, occasional arcs of electricity jumping across its surface, but the bizarre pressure it released wasn't what stopped him. Neither were the corpses of dozens of Psions lying broken against the consoles. The one armed enemy Favoured hung limply in Talassar's grip, his mechanical eye fading as Talassar dragged him towards a warping rift roiling against the ceiling. Dark purple eyes filled the rift, sending out waves of ominous energy, and the readings in Grey's HUD spiked for a second before shutting down. His visor cleared as the suit tried to reboot, the pained whispers of his squad coming over the local channel, their own armour in the same predicament.
An armoured fist encased in glittering gems stretched from the rift and pointed at Talassar. The gems flashed intensely and a bolt of energy shot at Talassar, but he just waved his hand and the attack vanished. He shouted at the rift, the words a tinny whisper in Grey's ears, the suit's electronics struggling to withstand the reality warping energies filling the chamber. A dull rumble filled the room, a choir of voices which Grey knew was the prelude to the descent of a Guardian from the Heavens. Screams filled Grey's ears as the pressure built and many of his squad fell around him. Blood seeping from the joints in their armour. [Looks like the Commander was wrong. The Guardians did care about this ship.]
"Bad Thrallax. Begone!" Talassar hurled the broken Favoured in his hand into the rift as he shouted and clenched his fist.
Kuzev the Breaker exploded, his flesh and synthetic parts swirling into the rift. The Guardians choir collapsed and a flash of surprise appeared in the purple eyes before the rift disintegrated. Talassar didn't even look up, walking to the console and tapping a few keys to bring up numerous screens. Grey's suit flared to life now that the pressure from the rift was gone and he ordered his squad to regroup. He stumbled to Talassar's side and frowned at the young Favoured. His behaviour was strange, fingers dancing across the keyboard faster than Grey could follow. As far as he knew, Talassar didn't have these sorts of technical skills.
"Not good. I can't do anything from here." Talassar said abruptly. "Bad Thrallax locked me out."
Grey swallowed the lump in his throat and asked, "What does that mean?"
"No time." Talassar squinted, staring up at the ceiling and Grey followed his gaze, unable to see anything out of the ordinary. "Only one thing I can do. Foolish, weak Talassar." He grumbled, rubbing his bare chest for a moment. With a quick twist of his wrist, Talassar pulled Grey close and before he could react, the room shimmered around him. The walls melted around him and his vision went dark. In a fraction of a second Grey found himself staring at the barrels of a dozen rifles as they materialised into what could only be the bridge. The Commander gaped at their arrival and quickly gestured for the HLA to stand down.
"Favoured." He breathed. "Your arrival is timely. We can't stop the Jump and Stick isn't able to get into the Navigation system. You have to…" Talassar strode to the captains console and summoned that odd glowing device he'd used to get into the lab before plunging it into a slot which popped open.
"Stop Favoured!" The Commander roared and capacitors hummed to life as more troops bought their weapons to bear.
"Wait Soveks." Roquefort dashed before Talassar, but before anyone could react, the bridge lights shut off, glowing red warning indicators flickering to life. All the power in the room seemed to flow towards the console, charging Talassar's device. Numerous calculations projected from the key and Talassar touched one of the lines in the air, ignoring the actions of everyone in the room.
"What have you done?" The Commander demanded, his normally calm demeanour stretched thin. Grey had never seen the man lose his cool to this extent.
"WARNING!" An automated voice burst from the bridge speakers. "Emergency Jump Initiated. All hands brace for transition in 3… 2… 1…" Grey's vision blanked once again and his heart lurched, a deep twisting sensation rising in his stomach and he fell, hitting the floor without a single sound. For a moment he was lost, devoid of his senses, and it seemed to stretch forever. He wanted to scream but couldn't, the air in his lungs trapped. The twisting in his gut suddenly vanished and the scream burst from his lungs as the lights in the bridge flared on. The communications channels in his suit were filled with screams and sobs and he scrambled up, clawing for the weapon he'd dropped. Reassured by its presence, he crouched and stared at Talassar.
The Favoured's left eye was pouring blood, his left leg was bent at an odd angle, the bones in his shin visible from a rent in his light armour. He hovered a few centimetres above the deck, the cape and crown he bore earlier already dissipated. Talassar was glaring at the bridge's viewport. No longer was the interior of the shipyard visible, instead Grey could see two stars hanging in the void. They'd arrived at a binary star system.
"Hand it over Favoured." The Commander rasped.
"It's Talassar's." Talassar turned to face them and whispered. Grey frowned at the words, something tugging at his memory, but he couldn't focus on the thought before the Commander pressed some buttons on his wrist and Talassar's ability to fly vanished. Without even a grunt, the Favoured's leg twisted even further, unable to bear his weight. Talassar's one good eye glittered as he gazed up at them and Grey was certain he was facing something inhuman.
"Grey, relieve the Favoured of that device and take him to sick bay. If he doesn't cooperate…" The threat hung in the air and Grey aimed at the Favoured.
"If you please Favoured." He croaked, a flash of guilt rising in his heart which he suppressed.
Talassar's lips twisted into a grimace and he tilted his head, studying the angry HLA troops who were recovering and ready to shoot if he made any suspicious moves. "Weak. Foolish Talassar.' He whispered, struggling to stand. Talassar raised the device, and Grey took a step forward. With some trepidation he reached out, but it pulsed briefly with light and dissipated, taking Talassar with it. Grey stare wide-eyed at the Favoured turning to mist and dashed forwards, but he only caught air. A scream from behind was all he heard before the troops opened fire.
"Stop!" The Commander roared. "Don't damage the consoles. He's already gone." The Commander spun to Roquefort and grabbed his arm. "What went wrong with the inhibitor?"
"N-Nothing." Roquefort stuttered. "They assured me even a Guardian wouldn't be able to break it without some effort. This is impossible."
"Apparently not." The Commander surveyed the scarred bridge and snapped. "What are you all waiting for? Find him! He can't have left the ship and get rid of those cursed Guardsmen while you're at it. Grey!"
"Sir!" Grey snapped to attention.
"Take this." He handed over the inhibitor. "It seemed to have some effect before. He snatched Stick on his way out, and I want to know why. If he surrenders attach the inhibitor to his neck, otherwise put him down. With or without that device of his, it doesn't matter. A dog that can't be controlled isn't worth our time."
"Yes sir." Grey whispered, carefully listening to the Commander's instructions on how to operate the inhibitor before quickly leaving.
"Where are we Leane?" The Commander's voice filled the bridge behind him. "Tell me how much control we have over this ship and how many Guardsmen…"
[Looks like I won't be able to rely on the Favoured for information on my brother. ]