Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller Brandon Ellis (ebook reader for comics txt) 📖

a large Agadon ship, his turrets rotated and its cannon barrels spun in place, shooting one bolt after another. Jaxx flipped his missile batteries on and opened the missile compartments, then pressed his weapons trigger, firing half a dozen missiles.

He glanced at the side view vid screen. His first shots hit true, and the largest of the Agadon ships took much damage. Its port side went offline. Its aft rockets, on the other hand, straightened the mammoth back into formation.

“Almost got ’em,” he said under his breath.

He banked right. An Agadon mech came into target, this one having his way with a Taka-zan, chasing it, badgering it.

“You have the Agadon in your sights, Jaxx. Engage, engage!” said Zyra.

“Don’t mess me up, Zara,” said Jaxx. He didn’t need to be guided. He didn’t need to be taught the intricacies of war. War seemed to follow him wherever he went. Something at which he was more than an expert.

He took a deep, powerful breath, and an invisible energy swirled down his skull and into his mind. His eyesight enhanced, zooming in and out like a powerful camera, his brain synapses firing in perfect harmony, zipping electrical impulses faster.

He was a warrior.

He pulled his blade from his mech’s back. He threw it. It spun tip over hilt, heading for the Taka-zan, increasing in speed at every second.

“Stay,” whispered Jaxx. “Don’t move, my friend.” He watched, waiting, the sword zipping closer and closer to the Taka-zan. “Now!”

He knew the Taiyonian pilot couldn’t hear him, but the Taiyonian veered right regardless, exposing the Agadon mech behind it.

The Agadon reversed thrusters as fast as he could, slashing his mech’s arm upward to hit and redirect the sword away from him.

A moment too late.

Sparks flew as the sword sliced through the Agadon mech’s forearm, then rammed into its chest, sticking halfway through.

“They’re retreating,” said Zara. “Head to Taiyo.”

An Agadon destroyer lit up in a flash, then disappeared. A large carrier vanished, then a starship. One by one, more Agadon mechs and ships left the system.

“They initiated their portal drives connected to the pyramid network. They’re probably back in Leonia orbit. Let’s regroup on Taiyo,” said Zara. “They’ll be back soon and with more battleships and artillery at their disposal.”

Jaxx nodded, then pressed his combat-mech forward, heading to retrieve his heavy, striated Ashanti sword, deep inside the Agadon mech’s chest. So, the Agadon left their dead behind. Assholes. He should have known that was the case.

Jaxx grasped the sword with his mech’s hands, placed both feet on the floating Agadon mech, and pulled.

The sword didn’t budge.

He twisted it, then pulled again.

Nothing.

His comm line blared and laughter filled his cockpit. That wasn’t Leonian laughter, nor Taiyonian. Who was it? He eyed the Agadon cockpit. An Agadon glared, blue blood oozing out of his mouth, dripping down his gray chin, as he laughed. How did the Agadon tap into Jaxx’s comm line?

The Agadon coughed and blood squirted out of his mouth and onto the Agadon cockpit window. If this was an Artificial Intelligence Being like Zara said, hell bent on destroying planets, and wiping all living things out of existence, it was well made with blood and flesh—and all other human-like biological systems, except perhaps the brain; maybe substituted with a central processing unit and a hard drive that was hardwired to kill.

The Agadon wiped his blood away from the cockpit window with his gray forearm. He then jabbed his finger at Jaxx and pointed the finger at his control panel. The Agadon paused, then hit a button with his fist.

The Agadon mech exploded, shredding Jaxx’s mech’s feet and shins, shards of the Agadon mech’s armor shot into Jaxx’s mech, sinking into his hips, chest, and all the way up to the cockpit, shattering the cockpit window. A glass barrier from Jaxx’s helmet extended and folded over Jaxx’s face, leaving a few inches of space between the helmet’s glass and his nose. The bottom portion of the glass barrier curved under his chin, clicking into his jumpsuit’s collar.

In seconds, all air was sucked out of his mech, and what was left of the cockpit window was pulled off its hinges, jettisoning out into space. His cockpit seat pushed forward, then launched him straight through the cockpit opening, spinning him wildly in into the deep, dark void.

He sucked in a breath, but nothing entered his lungs but searing pain. His eyes widened. The helmet was malfunctioning. He pressed a few buttons on his jumpsuit, hoping to close the tube’s oxygen flap.

He attempted another breath.

Pain, as if the tissue holding his lungs in place was tearing, ripping. He slapped his helmet. This was it. This is how he was going to die.

Kaden Jaxx, archeologist, Atlantean expert, warrior, prophesied savior of the known worlds: dead.

His vision narrowed and his sight began to fade. His arms slackened, weakness and sleep overtaking him.

A crackle and hiss.

His jumpsuit and helmet filled with air, giving him ample, clean oxygen.

He took in a deep breath, his body regaining strength.

“Oh my God!” He blinked several times, his vision widening, his body tingling, bringing fresh oxygen through his veins.

He floated, slowly spinning in space, the stars twirling around him. All he could hear was his breath.

He pressed a button on his jumpsuit.

“I need...help.”

Static filled his helmet.

“Anyone?”

He spun farther away from his badly damaged mech. He turned, seeing his mech’s wires and tubes hanging from its legs, its torso caved in, cracked open, and its head hanging to the side, a thread of armor keeping it from following Jaxx into space.

Blue booster fire from the Leonian and Taiyonian ships and mechs were far in the distance, heading for the blue and green planet.

Shit!

“Hey, guys?”

22

E-Quadrant, Earth - Lookout Mountain, Tennessee

Drips reverberated against the tunnel walls and every other step landed in a thin puddle. They were guided only by Anderle’s cell phone light.

“Where is she? Where’s Mya?” asked Drew, trying to avoid a puddle, only to land in another.

“Up ahead,” Anderle went into a quick jog. “She should be.”

“Should?” Drew’s