Lately, Maria’s world has been like a video game. She was never really a fan of video games, but they were so ubiquitous as she grew older that it was impossible not to have seen the first-person shooters where the perspective moved like the view through two eyes. And defending the outer ring satellites from the Earthling monsters has been just like she remembered seeing on the screen; chaos and still moments interrupted by more chaos.
Following the ambush at the primary satellite, Maria, Kal and Whadgaf, along with King Wyath, received a message that four of the Kings at the secondary satellite had joined the fight to secure the outer ring security perimeter that was being infiltrated by the Earthling monsters, and the other six were retreating to the tertiary satellite that was behind the outer security ring in order to regroup and plan a strategy against the attack. Kings Sao-Reyne and Re went there as well, and they reprioritized their incoming reinforcements from the Banned Regions so that when they arrived, they would be at the places that needed the most help. The reinforcements would arrive in a cycle and Whadgaf Jiris, the de facto commander of the forces from the Regions, was about a cycle behind the front of the Regions’ forces and they wanted to ensure that she could arrive at the tertiary site without incident; Sao-Reyne and the Queen Ravileth had discussed the symbolic importance of having Whadgaf stand with the Kings as they defended against the IP Security Forces, they wanted to present as a coalition opposed to the IP’s actions.
Maria is on one of the satellites of the outer security ring. It is like she stands on a city-sized metal building that seems to be primarily constructed of vertical metal beams and platforms for staging various ammunition, and there is a translucent shell, impossible to detect with the naked eye, that forms a hospitable egg-shaped environment around the jagged satellite that can be dropped to fire long range weapons without compromising the atmosphere inside. When the protective shell of a satellite is compromised, the satellite seals shut, filling the empty spaces with metal sheets.
Maria is standing outside of the sealed structure and the protective shell is lost. She has her favorite weapon, the shape-shifting baton that morphs into a cannon, a rifle-like weapon with an extra sharp bayonet, and a smaller weapon that she can aim and shoot with more precision. She and Kal have come to help take the satellite back from the Earthling monsters and they wait for Kings Ju-arl of S3, Sayrone Yut of S2, and Wyath of S12 who have successfully retaken a nearby satellite and received intel that one of Pen’s weapons was standing watch in the satellite where Maria found herself.
“They are almost here,” Kal says as his weapon transforms into a powerful cannon on his arm. He looks strong in his spacesuit and he seems eager for the fight ahead of them.
“You really didn’t have to come with me,” Maria says. “I’m glad you’re here, but if you get hurt…”
“I’ll be fine,” Kal cuts her off. “I’ve lived in the Regions for longer than you’ve existed, I know how to take care of myself.”
“Excuse me,” Maria says jokingly. “I didn’t mean to offend you, this is just going to be intense.”
“I know,” Kal says. “Is it one of the Earthlings that took King Minios’s crown?”
“No. They said this one made stuff out of thin air. I think I know him,” Maria says and stares at the dark metal of the satellite. “Not personally, but on Earth, he did good things for people. Representative Eakran knows him. His name is Kevin and he fought these monsters there. I guess the Earthling Representative to the IP got to him. He’s not a bad guy though. Whatever is happening, I hope I can speak to him.”
“But we can’t let him take anymore crowns. That would not be good,” Kal says. “Is Eakran coming?”
Maria nods.
“He’s on the front. You think Pen has contingencies for our help from the Regions?”
“No,” Kal says smiling. “If she had planned on the Fhetat having significant help, she would have come with more numbers. But then again, the numbers she has are very effective. Maybe she just wanted to exhaust the Kings, which is what’s happening to the outer ring security. The Fhetatians were smart to accept help to replenish the outer ring before the IP forces arrive in earnest.”
“The war is already happening, it’ll be done by the time they show up, or that’s how it feels anyway.” Maria spots the three Kings flying to land on the satellite.
King Yut is fearsome in a jagged armour of solid ice that surrounds his spacesuit. King Ju-arl is covered in webs of thick bolts of electricity that seem to dance around him. King Wyath is surrounded by a circle of boulders because he can control rocks and minerals.
“There is no force to meet us,” Yut says. “He must be expecting us.”
“We took back three of the four satellites he’s been holding,” Ju-arl says. “He’s definitely waiting for us. Any word from the others?”
“Everyone at the tertiary satellite is ok,” Kal says. “We haven’t heard from anyone in the fight except you three.”
“Let’s get this done,” Wyath says and the crown underneath his helmet glows a tan color. More rocks fly up in the fury around him as though they materialize from nowhere.
Kevin is waiting inside for the Kings to storm the satellite and he is ready for them all. There are a thousand of the Earthling monsters inside and Kevin hopes to use the distraction to catch the Kings off guard and collect as many crowns as he can.
“I bet I’ll have three by the end of the cycle,” Kevin says jokingly to a man whose face appears on the monitor of his communicator.
“Whatever, man, you still won’t be doing better than me. Mine don’t even know what’s coming, and it’s more than three of them there.”
Kevin is in a room high up in the satellite. It has monitors displaying everything inside and outside the satellite and controls for various weapons and other functions of the craft.
“Mine don’t know what’s coming,” Kevin says with a grin. He is putting on battle gear as he speaks. It is like the standard issue IP spacesuit with more sturdy plates that don’t compromise movability. “They’re coming now. Like I didn’t sacrifice some pawns to draw them in. Ivan and Clay won’t be in the lead for much longer.”
“Don’t count out Desperation,” the man says, referring to himself in the third person. “It ain’t over ’til it’s over. Good luck.”
Kevin waves and ends the call. Then he turns his attention to the monitors.
The Kings storm the closed structure of the satellite and they break inside with ease. Maria and Kal follow close behind and they are met with a horde of the monsters that the Kings shock, freeze and batter with their abilities.
Maria heads toward the command room that she knows is standard in all of the outer ring security satellites. There are no stairs inside, just platforms that move up and down to metal boxes that form at varying heights in the vertical metal beams of the structure. Maria finds and operates a platform but before Kal can join her, he is overrun by a group of the monsters. Maria stops the platform and focuses on the monsters, feeling their minds and ignoring the nausea. She locks on to one of them, takes its mind, and orders it to defend Kal, who manages to make it to the platform that Maria starts in a hurry and they head for the metal box at the approximate center of the structure. When they arrive at it, a door opens and Maria walks inside.
“Hello,” Kevin says with a cool smile though he looks ready to do battle.
“Do you know me?” Maria asks.
Kevin nods.
“Why are you here, doing this? Why are you attacking for the IP?” Maria asks gently, not sure of the man standing before her.
Kevin turns his head and there is a slimey, black glob at the base of his neck that spreads veins into his skin.
“They got us, Maria.” He chuckles. “This whole time I thought Eakran was the problem. You know he killed my first girlfriend back on Earth? That’s so strange to say isn’t it? Can you believe there’s aliens and shit? It’s so much to process. But maybe we can do that later. We’re here for them, not you, not any of your other friends. We just want crowns, Representative Nuren wants them, and Representative Osmium has ordered that she have them.”
“What about the occupation of the Fhetat?” Kal asks. “Pen is going to care for these people? Are you all their new leaders?”
Kevin laughs.
“I’m just collecting crowns. Who cares what happens next? The occupation is a threat, we only want crowns. If the Kings can rule without them, so be it. And when we are done, I think I get to choose what life I live next, and I want that. Osmium promised us a lot and he’s shown us so much already. I imagine that if the Representative gets her crowns, no harm will come to Fhetatian civilians.”
Maria understands what he is saying and it is unacceptable to her.
“Nothing good will come of Pen possessing all of that power,” Kal says. “You shouldn’t help her consolidate it or there won’t be a peaceful place for you to choose in the universe. If she gets what she’s after, she will strip this universe of its powers and horde them for herself.”
Kevin shakes his head and looks to Maria.
“Please make him stop,” he says in playful distress. “I hate the way that translator sounds.”
“You get used to it, I guess,” Maria says, allowing the tension to deflate as Kevin obviously wants with the ease of his conversation. “Honestly, I miss Spanish, I haven’t heard it in so long.”
“How long have you been out here in space?” Kevin asks.
“Long enough,” Maria says, taking the opportunity to be serious. “Long enough to know that you’re on the wrong side of this. Kal here, knows Pen, and they attacked me and Eakran, and Alia…”
“Alia?” Kevin interrupts her and his entire demeanor changes like the name is an oppressive power that hits him in the chest. “Alia is here too?”
“Of course Alia is here, and of course we’re here. She said something when we were on the ship, before the fucking IP shot us! by the way, and at the time I thought it was just Alia being Alia, but it makes so much sense now. As soon as I realized it was you, I remembered what she said. ‘We all have places to be. Just go along and stay alive.’ She’s in space, but I don’t know where. I do trust that whatever she’s doing, it won’t collapse a whole civilization and lead to chaos. I bet that collapsing a civilization is the opposite of what she’d want you to do, and she would fight you to stop it.”
They stare at one another.
“Maria,” Kal says and she looks. He points at monitors that show many dead monsters and three badly injured Kings, still mighty and fighting for their lives.
“Do you know what those monsters are?” Maria asks, turning back to Kevin.
“Soldiers,” Kevin says with a shrug. He is shaken and rubbing the back of his neck like he feels a great pain there.
“They were people,” Maria says harshly. “They were homeless people that your Representative from Earth turned into monsters to fight this war, for what? For crowns? For Pen Nuren’s ego?”
Maria is angry and she reaches out to feel as many of the monsters as she can, then screams a halt that is heard throughout the structure, and most of the monsters fall down dead, though some are just disoriented.
“They’re safe,” Kal says, “I’m going to go see if I can help them.”
“I can stop you right now,” Maria says and she slowly approaches Kevin. Her face is dark, and she shows no emotion. She wants to see him die, to make him suffer, and all she has to do is think it.
But then Kevin imagines her in a metal box and she is suddenly in the dark and disoriented, and then flung out of the structure.
The box breaks when it hits outside on the surface of the satellite and Maria’s helmet engages. She stands just as the vertical structure of the satellite begins to crumble and then she sees Kevin in an orb, like a bubble that surrounds him as he levitates to land near her.
He has three crowns on one arm and as the orb disappears, she sees the three Kings and Kal unconscious.
“I am bound by the shit on my neck,” Kevin says. “I hope you understand. I hope you can save us before we ruin everything.”
She can’t touch his mind through his helmet and she curses loudly. Then, Kevin takes off in a small ship that appears as if from nowhere and he is gone before Maria can fathom what has happened.
PRL Serials 