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

“God, I missed this place. So calm. So serene,” Jaxx spoke more to himself than to Kiyo-zan.

Kiyo-zan veered right, brows furrowed. He gave Jaxx a fearful look.

“What’s going on, Kiyo-zan?”

Kiyo-zan pointed to the sky. A dark cloud was moving in, red lightning electrifying in and out of it. “Agadon za kite iru.”

“That’s the Agadon?”

Kiyo-zan nodded.

“Explain to me how that’s the Agadon?”

“Karera wa piramiddonettowāku zo shiyō shite imasu.”

“They are entering through the pyramid network here as well?” Jaxx shook his head. “The doesn’t explain the strange looking cloud.”

“Watashitachi wa sorera zo oshimodosou to shite imasu. Ugoite inai.”

“Your technology is pushing them back? That’s what creates the cloud? Will that actually work?”

“Īe, soreha dōsa shimasen.”

“Yeah, didn’t think that would work for long. At least it delays.”

Kiyo-zan lowered the craft, entering through a dome. Hills with flowing rivers, waterfalls, and hovering sail boats careened around the inner sanctum of the dome. Hanging vines of purple flowers hung from the walls. The peace and beauty made the chaos about to come that much worse.

He sighed.

Kiyo-zan pulled the craft into a flyway, a tunnel attaching one dome to another. They exited out the other side, entering an even larger dome. Several Leonian vessels and mechs were parked around a pointed skyscraper reaching high.

Kiyo-zan went in for a landing and hovered. The ship shuddered when the landing gear touched down. Kiyo-zan unstrapped and rushed outside. “Yuko! Yuko!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming. Hold your trousers.” Jaxx jumped out of the transport and raced after his friend, his boots sinking into the soft, mossy grass.

Kiyo-zan threw the skyscraper main doors open and Jaxx followed him inside. The city’s High Queen sat with Zara and Abdu, giving the new arrivals a pained, watery gaze.

The Queen dipped her head to Kiyo-zan, then stood and bowed to Zara and Abdu. She left the room, racing through another door.

“There’s no time to rest, Jaxx,” said Zara. “Another battle is on the way. The High Queen says they’re manipulating the pyramid network the best way they can, attempting to disrupt the Agadon’s entry.”

Kiyo-zan bowed. He put his hands together, a sign of apology, and dashed through the doors from which the Queen had exited.

Abdu laughed. “The Agadon retreated in defeat, then tried to surprise us by slipping through the pyramid network. They could fool us once on our planet, but we notified the Taiyonians that the Agadon might do it here as well.”

“And how long will we be able to hold them off until they fully manifest into this world?” asked Jaxx, not really knowing if his terminology was correct.

Zara lifted her shoulders, her chains jingling as she did. “Anything from a minute to a day.”

The sky thundered, rumbling the earth.

Zara let out a growl. “Or now.” She grabbed Jaxx by the back of the shirt and lifted him up, carrying him out of the building. “Get into a Taiyo starfighter. They tell me you’re the best in those things. Be one with it, Jaxx.” She planted her fist in her hand, then dipped her head. “Once we hold these blue-baldheads off, we’ll get you back to Callisto. There we’ll close the portals before these Agadon destroy entire systems.”

A gust of wind blew against Zara and Abdu’s fur and flung Jaxx’s hair up, flapping his clothes in the wind as a starfighter towing another starfighter by an electric blue light hovered above. It moved towards them.

Abdu slapped Jaxx’s shoulder. “See you on the battlefield.” The wise lion turned and ran toward his mech, Zara on his heels and heading toward her own mech.

An explosion knocked Jaxx on his side. He rolled and pushed himself up, then rolled away as fast as he could. A golden light washed over the land, lighting the grass and buildings on fire. Pieces of the dome crashed to the ground.

The center of the dome blew open and more pieces plummeted onto the city, raising smoke and cinder everywhere. The inner city was now exposed.

An Agadon star carrier came into view. A hefty beam weapon on its starboard sent hot, amber energy upon the city. Hundreds of starfighters exited one of its bays, heading in for a strafe run.

31

Edge of M-Quadrant, Nearing Jupiter - Starship Atlantis

Slade pushed a soldier out of the way and aimed his gun. He pulled the trigger, then pulled it again.

P-taff! P-taff!

An enemy soldier, someone wanting to help the government take control of the ship, flopped like a rag doll to the ground. Blood oozed from his neck and head. Enemy guards ducked back around the corner of the corridor.

Senator Ken Furr’s and Government Boz Brown’s piece of crap idea was working and Slade didn’t like it. Slade was not going to allow the mutineers to succeed, not by any means.

They had taken over Deck 7 and parts of Deck 6. He hoped they hadn’t found the envoy; the Kelhoon troops that were on Deck 6, waiting in a few storage bays, ready to strike, probably digging in to the raw meat Slade had left them.

Slade rushed ahead through clearing smoke. He shot a volley towards the enemy soldiers, keeping them pinned. He went down another hallway, stopped and leaned his back against the wall. He eyed his soldiers, more than twenty, hiding in doorways, weapons ready. He put two fingers to his eyes and touched his hands together. He pointed forward, indicating two enemy squads were down the corridor.

His troops nodded.

Two put up their rifles, and dashed out of their doorway, moving to the next open door down the corridor. The next two soldiers did the same, moving closer to the enemy.

Slade brought his comm close to his chin, notifying Central Ops on Deck 1—a command center that was still on his side. “I have a small team with me. We’ve almost got Deck 5 cleared. The politicians have more troops than I thought. We’re in need of back up. Send ASAP. Copy?” They only had about a thousand well-trained soldiers on Starship Atlantis in the first place. These