Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 38

Standing alone in a sim within a sim with a tube of chocolate ice cream, Krato Aeneus Raptis watched as his charge ascended to prepare his assault against the four rank D men in defensive position. He’d watched the event from the beginning.

It was unlikely he would ever see his wives and children again now that he was in custody of the enemy. He’d constantly questioned the point behind him remaining alive. His life was a life of honor, receiving glory for his deeds and a life of service. He was Krato. An Ekseliksi who lived by the sword, reaching the highest rank he could receive. This was not a dishonorable end. To think being brought here would have such a purpose.

How many hundreds if not thousands of men had he trained? His own children, a few that had earned rank equal to his own, were his pride, but no two were the same. The variety of psionic abilities mixed with unique talents was far vaster than the people of Earth understood. They were too young to psionics to understand the difference between nuance and significance. Not one of the men Aeneus had trained took what he’d developed as far as this Earthborn néos at this psionic rank.

They shared one thing in common. Necessity. Because of the limits of his psionics, Aeneus hadn’t had any other choice. This boy didn’t have the same limitations, but the responsibility he heaped upon his own shoulders was an impossible burden. Aeneus had seen it himself. After all the failures the boy had faced, today’s success was almost cruel. It wouldn’t humble him but cause him to hope.

The star that burns the brightest is often the first to burn itself out. An ancient saying that was more often true than not. This Lucius would burn.

As the boy threw psionic bolts down on his competition to blind them from his true bearing, Aeneus’s eyes gleamed as they reflect thy boy’s brilliance.

Lucius used the wall to build up speed and descend at an unexpected angle. If that was all, it was something the men he faced would catch onto soon enough, but the boy hadn’t been trained by just any Centurion inspired by Ekseliksi elite. He used the wall a second time before darting to the ground.

His opponents remained shielded as they observed his approach and tried to get their bearings.

Hovering across the ground, feet first, Lucius relied on his weight and momentum as his foot caught an ankle.

The defender was favoring his front foot as he leaned forward to reinforce his shield. His foot was swept out from under him and thrown out with considerable force. The man’s psionic shielding saved him.

The impact spun Lucius across the ground like a top, but he’d anticipated it, pushing himself across the surface until he reached a wall. Rebounding, he flew at the defender jostled by his neighbor’s fall.

A sword flashed.

He dodged just enough to cause the man to miss before for landing on the man’s shield. It was like getting hit by a human-sized hammer. One that proceeded to use you as a takeoff platform before launching himself into the air.

The man flew back, battering the remaining men standing. It wasn’t enough to ground the rest of them, but all of them were sent stumbling.

When the boy had remained too long in one area, the group’s leader dared a moment’s use of his aura to race after him. He threw himself into the air, resummoning his psionic shielding over his entire body.

The man’s timing was good. His war hammer flew in a wide arc.

Lucius soared over them, but not out of the man’s reach. A blast of push from the side of his body facing the man was the only thing that kept him from getting a mouth full of hammer.

Aeneus’s eyes narrowed as he watched the spike of the man’s weapon clip Lucius’s knee.

The néos he had trained cushioned his landing against the opposing wall just long enough to take in the damage. It sliced through the leather and skin of his kneecap.

As far as injuries went, it wasn’t debilitating.

Brendon Black’s eyes shone with bloodlust.

The enemy’s psionic bolts started flying again as the war hammer wielding man gave chase while keeping his psionic shield active as much as possible.

A thin smile took Aeneus Raptis’s face. His competition had finally figured out something to resist him. “Come, néos. Show them how brightly you burn.”

***

There wasn’t enough time to heal my injury. It wasn’t bad enough to require it anyway. There wasn’t even a lot of pain. Every movement I made seemed to tug at the skin, which was annoying.

Avoiding Black wasn’t difficult if he was my only concern, but his three men had recovered and were throwing rank D bolts at my head. Since their leader was using his psionic shielding, they dared what they hadn’t earlier, casting bolts dangerously close to hitting both of us. The difference was, he could tank one or two without it phasing him, while I’d be turned into flying charred man-steak.

I dove below Brendon, using the wall to diversify my flight pattern. My aim were the casters, but as soon as the saw me descend, they summoned their psionic shielding unless they were absolutely sure they knew where I was.

Their leader tried to take advantage, bounding higher to get directly above me. It didn’t work, but he was a constant variable I had to avoid. He also began throwing bolts from above since his men were also shielded.

Instead of attacking, I found myself on the run. There was no clear target. Those on the ground were now spread out enough that it was difficult to use one to shield be from the others. But they also weren’t far enough away for me to single one out.

The best target remained Brendon Black. I just had to give those on the ground something to think about.

I didn’t even aim directly by looking at them. I simply tossed psionic bolts as I flew in the direction I felt their own bolts coming from. There was little chance I’m get lucky and hit one with his shielding down, but they couldn’t throw bolts if they had to block. They also seemed reluctant to move from their current positions. That I could use.

Ascending from below Brendon, I hoped a few of his men’s bolts would land. It should at least distract him. But his back-and-forth rhythm between walls was too consistent. It made it easier for his men to miss.

Bounding off a wall at an upward angle, I did something that he didn’t expect. I was on a collision course with his war hammer. With all the psionic shielding covering his body, he might still be able to use his weapon, but that didn’t mean he could create the force he could while using his strengthening aura or the destructive edge of his unique double weapon bolstering ability.

I saw his triumphant smirk the moment before we collided.

He swung downward to meet me. It was a direct hit.

His hammer slammed into my arm I’d thrown up to block it with. My own psionic shielding was covering me from head to foot.

My psionics might have been a rank lower than his, but against his war hammer without his psionics boosting it, it clanged off as I rammed my shielded shoulder into its shielded face.

If anything, his shield won out, but he was sent flipping toward the wall, while I pushed myself in a different direction to avoid the incoming psionic bolts.

It was as I expected. He recovered quickly. The man had the athleticism of a cat even without his psionics. He kept his shield active, blocking the bolts I threw after him.

Once he repositioned and was coming again, we both knew what would happen next. We flew at one another to go at it again.

This time he stabbed out with his war hammer, trying to impel me with its spike.

Swatting it to the side with a shielded hand, I spun past his weapon, unable to strike back.

I had to push myself off course, then reposition four times before I was clear of the psionic bolts from below. It felt like I was jousting while playing dodgeball.

When the volley of bolts slowed, I suspected he’d commanded his men. There was no way he’d have them stop. He just wanted to have a go at me, so they’d probably resume after our next exchange.

From where we brawled fifty yards above the ground, our trajectories once again went head-to-head. Then it happened.

He stabbed out, but this time his body glowed with green power.

As I dodged, I rebuked myself.

His shield was bashing forward with all of his strength behind it.

Instead of catching him with a psionic bolt like I desired. I pushed against his shield, sending myself wide.

It spun him, but he easily corrected himself. His shield was already active as my bolt struck home.

I was right. His men’s bolts were already flying after the exchange.

As I came in contact with the wall, I glanced up. Maybe…

When I bound upward, he didn’t follow. Instead, he descended and began firing off bolts at me.

I could still try and get some more altitude, but if they decided to leave the tunnel, I’d have a rougher time if they reached the maze. At least here they were surrounded by walls with no quick way to ascend to the summit.

Throwing psionic bolts of my own as I descended back to a level Brendon was comfortable with, I committed myself to what I saw as the likely end.

So we jousted several stories off the ground.

The thrust out, once again trying to bash me out of the sky.

It didn’t matter which way I dodged. His initial strike was dangerous enough because of our momentum that the advantage was his.

I could go up and over it, but then I could at the most fire a bolt at him. He’d proven it was something he was ready for.

Going under it gave me more options, but he wasn’t lazy with his shield as his man I had killed.

No, ending this would require risk.

He seemed to come to the same realization and called out, “You’ve had a good run, but I’m starting to figure this out.”

“You think you can compete with me after your first day of training?” I shouted back.

He was kind enough to tell his men to let up on the psionic bolts while he taunted me. “I’ve been at this for a decade, Major. You’re the one thinking he can show up and change centuries of combat.”

I fell into a rhythm matching his, I faced him directly. “Change? I’m just learning from your enemy that has centuries of experience.”

“I admit that there’s something to your ‘call to action’, but who do you think we’ve been fighting all this time? In a single battle we’ve figured out how to counter you.”

“Have you? And how would things have gone if Mel would’ve stayed? What if there were more of me, or I had rank D psionics?”

He shrugged. “And if I had all of my men? I’ve killed the Ekseliksi before.”

“I guess that means there’s only one thing left to do.”

Drumming his war hammer into his shield, Brendon gave me a toothy grin. “Let’s hurry then. After killing you, there’s still enough time for us to grab another flag from one of the weaker bases. Look at the bright side. We might end up with a three-way tie for first.”

I didn’t respond. Instead, I shifted my heading, throwing a series of psionic bolts toward his men below to keep them guessing.

Brendon Black exploded from the wall with more commitment than any of our earlier exchanges.

I used a full powered push to rocket toward him.

His shield remained active until I drew near. Then his strengthening aura billowed into lie with finality.

My psionic bolt surged from my hand.

Seeing it coming, he cut his aura threw his shield up to block his face and reactivated his psionic shielding. It was an expert use of psionics that not everyone could duplicate. To be able to switch instantly between abilities… He’d returned to that almost impenetrable state.

I didn’t summon my own psionic shielding but went all in. My silver, rank E aura filled me with inhuman strength. Instead of dodging in the incoming shield, I slammed into it, catching its top rim with both hands.

We spun in midair since our momentum was similar. Then I proceeded to do something that wasn’t taught me by Krato, but a grinning madman with an epic beard.

Climbing to his back, I wasn’t holding on to Brendon Black, but the intense energy shield exuding from his body. If I hadn’t been using my aura, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hang on at all. Before he could counter, I had made it to his back and had my arm around his neck in a rear naked choke. The obvious problem was that there was no way I could squeeze with enough force to defeat his rank D shielding.

He began chuckling wildly. “You think this fall will kill me?” he lambasted with even more laughter.

He thought I grabbed ahold of him to force a fall. Oh, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. Placing my mouth as close to his ear as I could get it, I cried, “Kline says, ‘hi.’”

While holding him in place, I slammed a Dragonslayer covered fist into his temple. His rank D shielding was powerful, but the mixture of force and precision were more than enough.

The man’s body went limp as they fell long before his psionic shield stopped working.

I tried to push myself off his body with enough force to dodge the incoming psionic bolts from below, but the moment I landed on him, it was almost inevitable. A rank D psionic bolt sank its electrifying tusks into my calf.

The job was done, so all that I could do was flee. All the while, there was an electric eel wrapped around my left leg.

The pain was enough that my vision blurred, but my adrenaline was kicking in overtime. Reaching the top, I threw myself to my side. It was then I saw the damage. Not only was my calf missing completely, but the bone was gone.

Before I could scream out to Destiny, a cord of some type had been brought to me by Wink my scout drone. I wrapped it around my leg above the knee to cut off the blood flow. This wasn’t something heal could help with. If I tried, I’d more or less be grown back my leg. There wasn’t enough time for me to even try.

Demanding a sword from Destiny who I was in too much pain to hear even though I knew what she’d be saying. As soon as my hand found the hilt, I bolstered my blade with psionic energy and slashed down.

Only then did I let the healing energy flow. I cried out to Victoria even though there was no need for me to raise my voice. “Where do you need me?”

“Lucius, no,” she answered me instantly. “Mel is sniping at Lethal Accord from above as they’re trying to secure a flag from a base. He has it under control.”

“Where?” I demanded.

Destine sent up a giant beacon through my headset so that I could see where they were fighting in the distance.

Pushing myself off the ground into a hover, I cleared the gap over the tunnel in which I’d just been fighting and headed in their direction.

***

Mia laughed. Nothing new to see here. Of course, Lucius would defeat Brendon Black only to get seriously injured in the last moment. The thought turned her chuckle into a fit of laughter.

The other three panelists just watched her quietly.

It was LeLisa who spoke first when she’d settled down a little. “Are you okay?”

“You don’t think he does this on purpose, do you?” Mia asked.

When the main screen on the wall panel changed, they saw one of Brendon Black’s men run over to where he’d landed. With his hand to the side of his neck. The man announced, “He’s dead.”

Another of his men stomped over as if insisting that he’d check himself.

As for the third man, he was glaring up the way Major Lucius Edward had gone. Without any warning, the man leaned back and loosed a furious howl.

Mia was about to turn away, but she noticed as Mr. Rachet leaned forward.

It happened with impossible swiftness. A hand appeared on the man’s forehead as a ceramic dagger was driven up into the back of his skull.

The assassin wasn’t finished. Leaving the knife in place, he stepped back as he drew a pistol. The small rail-cannon was exceptionally quiet as a round plunged into the back of the head of the closest man bending over their dead Master Sergeant.

The man’s rank D shielding activated, but it was too late. While trying to extend his arm to fire off a psionic bolt, he slumped over.

The third man reacted by summoning his own shield. By the time he realized what was going on, HandshakeDeath had activated his stealth suit, and he flickered out of existence.

The man wasn’t a fool. Instead of firing bolts off randomly, he jumped to his feet and ran to the area the assassin had been. He started systematically slashing out with his sword, keeping at it for thirty seconds without stopping even when he didn’t have any luck.

It’s not like someone in a stealth suit could run away without a visible flicker giving him away. And as for his footprints? One look at the ground revealed a thousand possibilities.

The man drew to a stop a moment later, but at no time did he drop his psionic shielding.

“Well, Prodos isn’t the only battalion that utilized stealth tech during the event, but is anyone surprised that arguably the best VR gamer to ever do it is also one of the best in Vanguard?” Mr. Rachet asked.

“No,” Bolt said but offered no explanation.

Mia studied him before following his gaze.

He spoke again. “Something’s wrong.”

The subject of his attention was Lucius.

Oren brought of a side profile with a closer view. The Prodos Major wasn’t using his legs at all as he pushed himself across the gaps between walls. He even summoned his psionic shielding as he did. As he moved, he swayed in an indistinguishable pattern as if his balance was off.

Mia noticed his blinking. Maybe he had something in his eye, but it seemed excessive for even that. Then as if tripping, he landed and there was no rebounding push that came. He teetered right over the edge.

“He’s going into shock,” LeLisa announced.

It was undeniable. Mia had seen his eyes roll back.

A fall from half a mile up wasn’t a fast one. It was a miracle he wasn’t hitting the wall.

“Wake up,” Bolt pleaded.

“Come on,” Mr. Rachet echoed.

Mia was thinking the same, but the words didn’t come. She wanted him to save himself, but then she remembered that if he died his suffering would be over. With her shoulders slumped forward, she watched in silence. Tears ran down her cheeks as she did.

Five seconds passed, then eight and ten. As he neared the ground, she could only hope. She flinched as she struck. The rest of the room gasped.

It was a minute or two later before she recovered enough to turn her mind to what was happening. Mel was once again on top of the outer layer after capturing the flag and taking shots at Lethal Accord from above. Time was running out.

Prodos even had one of the higher ranked battalions attacking their base, but they didn’t have to make a move.

In the end, it was enough.

Scoreboard

First Place – 18 Points

Ø  Prodos

Second Place – 17 Points

Ø  Lethal Accord

Third Place – 15 Points

Ø  Forefathers

Fourth Place – 14 Point

Ø  The Burden Bearers

***

Aeneus Raptis scrapped at the bottom of the tub to get the last bite of his chocolate ice cream. It was a little melted by now, but he enjoyed it all the same.

He just shook his head at how things had ended. Not at the way the boy had died. It was a good death. He’d quite enjoyed the theater of it. It was the way he’d killed the enemy that amused him. They hadn’t even started working on aerial grappling. His technique was decent, but if he’d simply controlled their positioning once he had a hold of his opponent, there would’ve been no reason to get his leg blasted off.

There was time. In a year or two the boy should reach rank D. Maybe sooner with the Epithumia’s help. Then he’d be able to exert himself.

Glancing at the scales covering his hands, he imagined what it would be like to have other psionic abilities like the boy instead of having to get his body modified. It worked for him, but the boy’s layering techniques would improve greatly once he reached the next rank.

Seeing that the event was over, he opened the sim menu before phasing out.