James Somers - The rise of Lucin

It was lit across the ceiling with the landing pads marked out across the smooth concrete floor. Other ships were already docked inside with quite a few people congregated near the ships sitting nearest to the entryway.

The three Agonotti warriors took form fast, leaping away from the surface of the transport ship. They each landed on the hangar floor ready for battle. Armor plating and weaponry materialized from their molecules as they tore into the people before them with all of the fury they could muster.

TIET hesitated only a moment; a sort of shock to his mental faculties as pure power flashed into being inside the cavern in the forms of the Agonotti. The Draconin rebels were unaffected by it. Their pulse weapons blazed to action against the Agonotti assuming form before them.

The flashing muzzles painted stop motion shadow portraits across the walls as the three warriors became a blur of motion. One of them was right on top of Tiet before he could react. One of the rebels was still firing his rifle as the Agonotti cut him down with a pair of massive tri-bladed claws morphed from his molecular structure. Tiet pulled his blade, but he was back handed before he could activate it.

He fell to the ground as more rebels engaged the Agonotti nightmares. Tiet could sense the others of his party-his son, Wynn and the others all moving in various places within the massive hangar as they fought with the Agonotti warriors.

Was this his fate, he wondered? To lie by the way as others fought the battles in his stead-a half crippled king without a kingdom? No! He fought the pain of his injuries and used his kinesis to get back in the fight.

People were screaming everywhere. Tiet spotted Alec moving some of the rescued women toward a portal at the other end of the hangar. It was a transgate arch embedded in the rock wall. Alec activated the gate as the battle raged and began to move the women through quickly.

The Agonotti were so fast he could hardly keep his eyes planted on them as they shredded through the rebels that were laying down a steady stream of laser fire against them. Kale was trying to fight against one with dual kemsticks whirling in a continuous onslaught of strikes, but he couldn't manage to land anything solid. The amazing thing was that the dispersion field was only doing minimal damage against the Agonotti armor. They were now completely different in their fighting style and ability as compared to the previous encounters a few months before. These fallen Mithri exuded the power implied by what they were.

Wynn and Emil were engaged with another of the three Agonotti warriors in a different area of the chamber as the rate of gunfire became slower and more exact-it just wasn't penetrating their armor.

Tiet launched out against the remaining warrior, almost catching him off guard as he slaughtered more of the gun toting rebels. Tiet struck at the creature, but was blocked by the horrible mutated claws covering each fist. As Tiet fought the creature, he roamed across its form with his mind, trying to discover any weaknesses. There, in the joints between the armor plates.

The warrior forced Tiet back and moved toward the return air vent in the wall behind him. Tiet moved in and struck at him again, but the creature wasn't interested in a fight anymore. He forced Tiet back again and jumped to the vent. His form began to shift again. Tiet hurled his Barudii blade at the target but it sank blade first into the wall behind as the Agonotti became a mist that blew right into the return vent.

Tiet recovered his blade from the wall and looked for the others. Then it occurred to him that the warrior had not been running from him. If he followed the vent out then the other Agonotti, still waiting on the outside of the mountain, could follow it back in. It's a diversion!

"Hurry!" he cried out to Alec, who was still moving escapees through the portal. "They've found a way to get in! The others will be here soon!"

Alec nodded as he urged the women on through at a faster rate. "Everyone evacuate!"

Then, Kale got through with a strike to the armor joint of the Agonotti he was fighting against. The Agonotti warrior howled in agony. Kale followed with a quick set of strikes to other weak spots that were now accessible.

"Father, help the others get through the gate," instructed Kale as he joined Emil fighting the last Agonotti. Wynn joined Tiet as they helped some of the pregnant women through. As the two warriors followed the women through the portal, another underground base was suddenly the setting. Mirah had already come through the gate and she was looking to one woman that had apparently gone into labor during the attack.

"Are you alright?!" Tiet shouted to his wife from across the room.

"Fine. Get the boys through safe!" Mirah said as she continued with the birthing.

Alec came through as Tiet returned to the portal. "That's all of the civilians. Your young men and a few of my men are still fighting the last of them," said Alec.

Tiet ran to the portal and started through. As he appeared on the other side, a huge spiked mace on a serpentine cord swung across his path crashing into the gate control board and one side of the transgate arches. Tiet jumped back reflexively as the weapon nearly tore through his upper torso.

The portal of light blinked once and was gone with Kale and Emil still on the other side with the Agonotti. He screamed to them, but they could not hear.

THE ground vibrated with the low hum of the Vorn attack cruisers hanging in the sky overhead. Lucin watched as hundreds of transport pods landed in the valley around him. They carried his precious army of symbyte infected hosts-humans with just enough of him implanted around their brain and spinal cord structures to bend them to his will. Tendrils coursed throughout their bodies and some were specialized; able to emerge through the skin and infect other hosts.

Thousands of humans from the Vorn and Castillian clans back on Castai had been transported with him to Draconis-nearly the entire population of the twelve cities once ruled by Tiet Soone. But that kingdom was over. As soon as Lucin could bring his fallen Mithrial brothers back under his leadership, he would be as Elithias-ruling both a host of Mithri and humans. With his great army he could then move on to conquest of the remaining humans clans on their respective worlds.

Zurig's body had changed somewhat in appearance with his increase in power. It was stronger, faster and Lucin was beginning to see mental powers emerging. In fact his former Mithrial powers were merging with his host and almost nothing seemed to be left of Zurig at all-this was Lucien's body now.

His army was assembling before him; thousands of them, all willing to die for him. Confidence swelled up within Lucin and that sin of sins, responsible for his fall, pride. His power was growing from within and without and all in spite of the will of The Eternal One.

Lucin turned on the hill he stood upon to look to the city in view several miles away. From orbital scans, it was probably the largest out of a few real cities on the continent. The remaining population clusters consisted of small towns and villages.

Lucin knew very little about this planet, apart from its time of creation. It had been sparsely populated, but had been rumored, during the war, to have received a great many refugees seeking an escape from the conflict. Evidently the rumors were true.

But something had happened. The city smelled of destruction, death and decay. The planets largest city was a dead zone. It had to be the handiwork of his Mithrial brethren, the Agonotti, and if so, then they appeared to be gaining power as well.

A fog of ash and pestilence hung over the skyline. He breathed it all in. How wonderful it is. Lucin laughed within himself. He could sense the presence of his fallen ones, somewhere. With the landing of this great army and his warships hovering overhead, surely his Mithrial brethren would have to investigate. Now, all he had to do was to wait for them to make an appearance.