Bystanders II: Trophy Hunters Page 3

  There are murmurs of agreement as the Malignant take their positions.

  Wan Loo, the sergeant of the prison guards, stands outside the door leading to the cells in jade green armor. He’s unconcerned with what the Malignant prisoners may do inside their cells. Combat is heard in the distance. He wields twin whips that are electrified and cracks them on the floor to settle his guards’ nerves.

  “Settle down. We have boarders. Vishnu will take care of them. We need to make sure that nothing gets into the cells and releases Whiro. We kill the prisoners before we let that happen.”

  The assembled guards mumble agreement.

  A large battle ravages the ship’s mess hall. Several dozen fighters collide with each other. The Olympus’ quartermaster, Andhrimnir, thrusts his halberd through the throat of a Malignant, then pulls it out the side. The man’s head flops to the left as his helmet slides off.

  “Why my kitchen?” Andhrimnir moans. “This is going to take forever to clean. Odin and Thor will be pissed.”

  For the most part, the Malignant have the upper-hand in this battle. The galley was where most of the support staff went to hide. Three exceptions are Hariti, Oxomoco, and Ganesha.

  Hariti is a nimble woman with a panda helmet. Her katana slices through the air and dismembers both Malignant and drones. It’s the sharpest blade possible, and it yields to nothing. Hariti dives under a table and separates a woman’s legs at both knees. She screams as she falls, and Hariti stabs her through the face while lying next to her.

  Oxomoco is a larger woman with yellow armor and a butterfly helmet. Feathers adorn her armor in a multitude of colors. She wields twin tomahawks and hacks away at numerous drones while protecting several cowering cooks.

  Ganesha is the largest of the Gudz force. His steel gray armor towers over the remaining combatants. He wears a helmet that resembles an elephant. The trunk even sports a spiked metal ball that Ganesha swings like a flail. In his left hand, he wields a powerful white mace. The same color as his twin ivory tusks.

  Ganesha lifts his head and quickly nods. The motion flings the spiked ball into the helmet of a Malignant. Momentarily stuck, Ganesha slams his mace into the man’s body and violently throws him to the side. This, as expected, also dislodges the spiked ball and allows Ganesha to swing it at a leaping drone.

  The battle has turned in favor of the Gudz, and even the support staff find their courage.

  Ganesha squares off against the last of the human Malignant. He lowers his head and charges the man. His tusks pierce the man on each side of his chest, and Ganesha lifts him off the ground. He continues his run and pins the man against the far wall.

  The Malignant soldier is not dead and swings his ax at one of the tusks. The force of the blow breaks it off Ganesha’s helmet and offers him an escape. The man drops to the floor and holds his ribs. The second tusk pulled out his right side. Ganesha is unperturbed. He quickly reaches down and picks up his separated tusk. Before the dying Malignant soldier can recover, Ganesha thrusts it through the side of his neck. The man quickly succumbs to his wounds.

  Ganesha surveys the former battle site. “Animal Pack, you good?”

  “Yes,” Hariti answers.

  “Absolutely,” Oxomoco declares.

  “I’m good, too,” Andhrimnir also offers. “I’m glad you were here. We have a lot of new recruits down here.”

  Ganesha dismisses the compliment. “Not a problem. Lock the doors behind us. The hunt continues.”

  The three Animal Pack marines rush into the hallway to find more boarders to kill.

  Hades approaches Wan Loo and his four guards outside of the prison cells.

  “Hades, I’m glad to see you. Are any Malignant behind you?” Wan Loo asks.

  Hades keeps up his charade. “Wan Loo, I’m glad to see the door holds. No Malignant are behind me, but I’ve seen Death’s victims in several corridors.”

  “So, what can I help you with?”

  “Eve sent me out to scout. I confirmed that auxiliary power was safe, then came here to check on the prisoners. Do you mind if I go inside?”

  “No, but first, what’s in the bag?”

  Hades motions with his head at the bag on his shoulder. “I encountered a trio of attackers. After killing them, I grabbed this bag. I don’t know what it is. I figured that Quetzalcoatl would want to have a look.”

  “If it’s Malignant, you should keep it out of here.”

  Hades sets the bag on the floor. “Agreed. Let’s make sure our guests aren’t becoming emboldened.”

  “Right. Gudz, stay out here and watch.”

  Wan Loo gets affirmatives from his men. The doors open to the detention center, and Hades kicks Wan Loo in the back, violently forcing him to the floor.

  Wan Loo sprawls on the floor, with Anubis and Meng Po quick to pounce on him. They hold him down while Satan and Hel each grab a whip.

  Hades enters behind Wan Loo and immediately turns around, prepared to fight the four remaining Gudz. Whiro and Yama each grab a sword off Hades’ back.

  “Finally!” Whiro declares.

  The four Gudz charge into the cells.

  “Traitor!” the first shouts at Hades.

  Hades answers his accusation by impaling him with his bident. Whiro quickly decapitates two guards, and Yama skewers the last. They clearly were not expecting this fight. The Malignant were able to end it before it began.

  Whiro picks up the head of one of the decapitated guards and pours the blood over his face, licking his lips as he does. “It is so sweet when it is still warm.”

  Wan Loo screams as he is bombarded by the electric shock of his own whips. Satan and Hel grin as they relish the torture.

  “I love this! Oh, happy days!” Satan gleefully cackles.

  “Stop playing around and finish it!” Whiro commands.

  Satan frowns, but obeys. He wraps the whip around Wan Loo’s neck and jerks back. The man chokes and struggles for a full minute before finally dying.

  “You are no fun,” Hel says.

  She sticks out her lip and crosses her arms. The action seems to increase the size of her bust.

  “We do not have time for this,” Whiro states. “Did you bring my package?”

  “Of course, Master.”

  Hades briefly exits and quickly returns with the Malignant pack. Each Malignant takes an orb. They give each other room and activate their spheres. The orbs liquefy and spread across the hands, then entire body of each Malignant. The liquid expands and, after a few moments, each Malignant officer stands in a bright orange suit of armor.

  “Grab their weapons,” Whiro commands while pointing at the fallen Gudz.

  The remaining unarmed Malignant search the Gudz and relieve them of their blades.

  “What now?” Whiro asks Hades.

  “Master, we need to make it to the escape pods. I was unable to disable the Olympus’ weapons, so we lost all but one of our ships.”

  Whiro is angry, but does not resort to striking his accomplice. “That is disappointing. Does the empire at least know where we are?”

  “Yes. Death made sure to relay at each hop. We only need to get to the planet and wait for extraction. Death has a few more surprises to make sure none of the Gudz ever leave this ship.”

  “Good. Lead us to our escape.”

  “Absolutely, Master.”

  Hades leaves the cells with his twelve Malignant friends following.

  Eve, Adam, and Odin rush toward auxiliary power. As they close in on the room, the remains of a drone are thrown in front of them, followed closely by Thor, Arthur, and three more marines.

  “Is this your handy work, Son?” Odin points at the fresh pile of drone parts.

  “Actually, it was the kid’s,” Thor admits as he gestures toward Arthur. “He’s proven himself to be quite the marine.”

  “Thanks, Thor. It means a lot to have you validate me,” an appreciative Arthur says.

  Adam scans the reinforcements. “Where’s Vishnu? Tell me
he lives?”

  Thor nods. “He does. The main Malignant group that entered near us separated. We figured that they were heading this way, so Vishnu sent my team forward. His stayed behind to board their corvette. I think we got them all.”

  “Good,” Eve states. “I see auxiliary power just ahead. Hades is in there with Planicus. We’ll reinforce them.”

  “Lead the way, Eve,” Thor says.

  Death lies, bored, on the table inside auxiliary power. Someone bangs on the door outside.

  Death sits upright in anticipation as Eve calls through the door. “Hades, Planicus, let us in. It’s Eve and Adam.”

  Death stands and picks up his scythe.

  Eve and her Gudz stand outside when the doors open. Eve peers in as a scythe unexpectedly slices for her.

  Adam reacts at an amazing speed. “Wife, look out!”

  Adam pushes his wife out of the way and is sliced deeply down his left side. He falls as Death emerges from auxiliary power.

  “You have a worthy husband,” he gloats. “Now you know he will die for you.”

  Death dives into the center of the Gudz and pushes Arthur into the wall. Death ducks a swing of Mjolnir by Thor and splashes acid onto his opponent’s stomach and crotch. He then throws a second vial at Odin’s head. The burly warrior quickly discards his helmet.

  “Shit!” Thor screams. “Get it off me!”

  The acid rapidly eats through Thor’s codpiece. One of his marines splashes water from his canteen onto the acid and washes much of it away, but he’s cleaved in two when he takes his eyes off Death.

  “Bastard!” Thor screams.

  Death is cocky with his response. “Head on a swivel.”

  Death throws one of his caus-balls onto the floor at his feet. The billowing smoke begins to burn through the Gudz armor. All of them are surprised by the gas’ effectiveness.

  “Thor!” Eve shouts.

  Thor instantly swings his hammer. It blasts a gust of powerful wind. The wind blows the gas, and to a lesser extent the marines, down the hall. Their armor safe, the Gudz once again approach Death.

  Death shrugs. “I thought that was against the rules of Our Contest. What happened to no augmentations?”

  “You’re one to talk!” Arthur screams as he prepares to charge.

  Death drops into a martial arts stance with his scythe in front of him. He jabs the wooden shaft into a marine and brings it up under his chin. Death backspins and separates the man’s head from his shoulders.

  Eve swings her flail at Death, who easily ducks it. He kicks Eve’s feet out from under her and swings his scythe down to impale her. She rolls away and barely dodges.

  Arthur swings at Death with Excalibur, but Death takes the man’s right hand off at the wrist with his scythe. Excalibur clatters onto the floor. Arthur immediately charges Death and grabs him around the waist with his arms and good hand. Arthur forces Death to the ground, and he loses his scythe. Death reverses Arthur’s tackle into a roll and lands in the mount on top of Arthur. He promptly peels Arthur’s helmet off.

  Death dangles an armored finger over his face. “I am not touching you.”

  A small drop forms on the end of his index finger. The green liquid compliments the black of his armor. The drop falls free and lands on Arthur’s face.

  Thick black veins appear on his face as the toxin takes effect. A few painful gasps later, Arthur is dead. His skin splits as long black roots burst out of his head and armor.

  Death rolls off the body before Thor’s hammer can connect with his face. Instead, the blow slams into a marine. The man slams against the wall and gasps. He isn’t dead, but he’s definitely out of the fight.

  “Shit! Stop squirming, you coward!” Thor screams in aggravation.

  Odin lunges with his spear, but Death grabs the end of it, avoiding the point. He delivers a powerful strike to the spear shaft, augmented with an acid touch, and breaks the weapon in half. Death maintains possession of the bladed half of the spear and jabs it at Odin’s head. The splintered, wooden end of the spear plunges into Odin’s right eye.

  “Father!” Thor shouts.

  Odin screams several octaves higher than a man of his size and stature should make. He falls backwards and writhes on the ground. Death simply waits for the next attacker.

  Eve and Thor are the only two Gudz left facing Death. He’s unarmed, but still seems unconcerned.

  “This bores me,” Death simply states. “After the failure of your elite Animal Pack, I thought at least the famous captain of the Olympus would prove to be a challenge.”

  Thor’s body heaves with rage. “She’s not the one you should be concerned with at the moment! I’ll treat you to a level of pain that will need its own definition.”

  “Promises, promises,” Death taunts.

  “You’re pretty bold for someone who’s unarmed,” Eve states.

  “Who said I was unarmed?”

  Death jerks his forearms, and two slim spikes extend out. He instantly throws one at each of his opponents. The missile strikes Thor in his left boot, but Eve is able to avoid the spike sent for her.

  “Mmmm!” Thor grunts. “Mine is bigger.”

  Thor throws his hammer at Death and connects solidly in his chest. Death is thrown to the floor and gasps on the ground.

  Eve doesn’t squander this opportunity. She swings her apple flail at Death. He rolls, but not with the same quickness of his previous battles. The worm spikes scrape away slivers of his black armor.

  Death kneels and finds Eve’s flail connecting with the elevated knee. Death screams. He attempts to stand and falls back over.

  “Lucky bitch!”

  He tries once again to stand, and this time Eve delivers a swing from low to high that connects with Death’s chin. It cracks his helmet and blood spills down the front of his armor.

  “Fu--mmph, bitc--aargh,” Death struggles to say.

  Death’s broken jaw won’t produce the sounds he apparently wants. He falls onto his back.

  The Olympus shudders as several thumps are felt in the ship.

  “Escape pods. Whiro must have gotten out.” Thor grimaces.

  “How?” Eve inquires.

  Death laughs, despite the pain. “Ha-Had-Hades. Goo--man.”

  Eve and Thor are shocked.

  “You lie,” Thor accuses.

  Eve smashes Death’s face in with her flail. This kills Death. “Don’t listen to him. He had already lost and just wants to spread doubt among the crew. Hades is Gudz. He’s one of us.”

  Thor reaches down and painfully removes the spike trapping him to the floor. “I want to resurrect him so you can kill him again.”

  “A little help?” Adam weakly requests.

  Eve rushes to her husband while Thor limps to his father. The last marine breathes heavily, his injuries ignored.

  “Are you alright?” Thor asks his father.

  “No, but I’ll manage.”

  “We need to get Asclepius here,” Eve declares.

  Zeus interrupts Eve’s idea over her communicator. “Eve, I think the remaining Malignant are dead or off ship. We can see out the windows that several escape pods are heading to the blue planet below.”

  “We need to get them,” Eve commands. “Land the ship. And send Asclepius here now!”

  Apollo’s voice answers Eve. “Asclepius is on his way, but we have another problem.”

  “Tell me,” Eve orders.

  Apollo continues. “The Olympus is scuttled. We’re drifting toward the blue planet from its gravitational pull, but we won’t be landing. Crashing is the appropriate term. I figure we have twenty minutes until we hit the atmosphere.”

  Eve audibly sighs. “Shit. Get the surviving crew to their crash positions. Help the wounded first. We can survive this. We’re Gudz.”

  The Olympus drifts toward Earth. The atmosphere burns orange as the ship tumbles through. Pieces of the destroyer shear off, including the Malignant drop ships, but the majority stays intact. The benefit
of alien metal.

  The Olympus “successfully” passes through the atmosphere and plummets toward the ground. Mountains appear as the ship finally gets beneath the thick clouds. Green surrounds the mountains as the Olympus collides with one of the highest peaks. The aft section breaks away and flips in the air. It falls the full distance of the mountain, free of any more collisions. The front of the ship tumbles down the side, scraping deep furrows and clearing the foliage.

  Eve and her crew are in individual crash capsules. They’re securely mounted to the walls of the Olympus and have a liquid appearance. Their bodies move around throughout the crash, but even the wounded seem to be unhurt by the shifting.

  The lights flicker red as the room shudders with each collision. Eventually the ship slows down and ultimately comes to a rest.

  Outside the ship, the Olympus sits on a false summit of the mountain. There’s green around it and a few natural paths leading farther down the side.

  Eve looks around from inside her capsule. Her crew waits for her lead. She activates her capsule, and the liquid instantly evaporates, freeing her to step down.

  She takes a moment to survey the damage, then issues orders. “Officers, to the conference room immediately. Have your sergeants secure our ship and continue treating the wounded.”

  The remaining capsules open, and the Gudz follow their orders.

  Eve sits at the head of a large conference table inside a minimally decorated room. Her top officers are assembled. They include: Zeus, Apollo, Odin, Vishnu, Mercury, Andhrimnir, Thor, Poseidon, Baiame, Asclepius, and Quetzalcoatl.

  Eve begins the post operation briefing. “Alright. We need to establish the facts. Each of you give me your updates, then we’ll explore outside. Baiame, you first.”

  Baiame, the ship’s engineer, holds a dour expression. His skin is covered in soot from his desperate attempts to prevent a crash.

  “It’s not good, Eve. We aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, I doubt the Olympus will fly again. We’re in pieces, and we’re on an unfamiliar planet. It’s unlikely it’ll have the resources we need.”