Escape From Redeem, Rise of an Emperor
Chapter 15

Planet: Akrioka-Orkra- Orkra Clan World

Lucy looked into the amused and unforgiving face, of the monster that now stood over her helpless body. It was the end of the road in her short, but exciting career as a spy. The air still carried the misted scent of blood from her fellow crewmen, who now lay in body parts around her.

She had been made to wait, for far longer than the other two had. The pause in proceedings was interrupted by the executioner’s clumsy words.

‘Human…’

He said, with an effort to get his tongue around the English language.

‘Know that your people will all die; horribly.’

Saliva dripped from his lips, as he continued speaking. The other aliens seemed just as interested in his words as Lucy. None of them had spoken to her in her native language before now.

‘You may be spared, if you wish it.’

‘I do!’

Lucy said too quickly.

‘Ha… of course you do. But there will be a price for my mercy.’

Lucy said nothing and he continued.

‘You will become my pet and slave. You will turn against your own people and guide us through your realms.’

She watched the lifeblood that still quietly dripped from his tool of execution.

‘I suppose I do not have a choice in the matter.’

A feral smile widened his face, exposing numerous fangs.

‘There is a choice Human. But you will not go as quickly as your brethren. It would amuse me greatly to flay you alive. Your kind dies so nicely.’

She did not know how he could speak English. At the moment it hardly seemed a priority to know how. There was only one priority on Lucy’s mind, and that was to survive. But to survive, she had to betray her own people. It was an easy choice to make.

‘I will gladly be your pet if you set me free.’

She had done many things in the service of the Watch. Betrayal was a new to her; she would not hesitate from doing so though, as long as long as it meant survival. Live today and fight tomorrow, was what her handler had instructed her to do. It seemed like she might just escape after all. From what she had thought would be certain death.

‘Then rise slave, and supplicate yourself before me.’

She did as she was told, and obediently knelt in front of the mad eyed executioner. She bowed her head to the floor and waited for further instruction from the beast. He turned sharply, rattling the bones that were tied into his lank grey hair. He barked an order in his own language, and another of Lucy’s crewmen was brought out. It was the Captain of the ship. He was stripped and taken to the blood soaked stone and did not resist them.

‘Your loyalty will now be tested slave.’

He grabbed her by the hair, bringing Lucy to her feet. He handed her a smaller blade that she accepted without comment. She knew what this sick being would ask.

‘Kill him; Do it slowly.’

The Captain heard the order and struggled against the restraints that tied him to the stone.

‘Lucy… Don’t do this!’ He shouted at her

‘What choice do I have Captain?’

They would do much worse to him, than she would. She would do as they asked. She would survive.

Lucy approached the stone with the wicked looking blade in her hand. Its edge was sharp, mercifully she mused. The captain arched his back from the stone in a desperate, but futile bid to break free. She then saw an opportunity to ease the captains suffering but still put on a show for the blood thirsty animals, who demanded another sacrifice.

She moved fast, before the Captain lowered himself back onto the stone. Lucy was a well-trained assassin, and moved a skilled hand underneath his back as quick as a viper. The impact of the strike jarred up her arm and the blade punched through a vertebra at the base of his neck, paralysing him instantly.

‘I am sorry Captain.’

Lucy cried over the joyful roars. She pulled the blade back from the screaming victim. It made a sucking sound as it was pulled free. She hopped the Captain would play along and realise that she had dealt him the only blow that he would actually feel.

She then went to work on him; flaying his flesh from his body, and putting on a show that she hoped would satisfy her new master. The Captain screamed all the way through, making her torture appear authentic. Lucy knew that the realty was that he would not feel anything, after she had severed his spinal cord so skilfully. But the screams continued to the delight of the green skinned beasts who roared in satisfaction.

She had done many a cruel deed, since she had been recruited by Black Watch. This was by far, the worst of them all. Weak emotions had not been a problem for her. She finally slit the Captains throat and ended his suffering; she hoped that guilt would not haunt her one day.

Lucy turned to her new master and prostrated herself before him again, offering up the blade. She had considered using it on him, but cast the thought aside as fast as it had come. That course of action at the moment would be her end. A time would come to avenge the man, who now lay butchered by her own hand. The blade was taken from her and she dared to look at the blood shot and pale sightless eye.

‘You did well my slave.’ He congratulated her.

‘What would you have me do now Master?’

She played the obedient role well. To her relief, he appeared to like it. She might be able to use that she schemed. Training on turning people, and influencing them was embedded deeply within her now. This scum would replace that out to his undoing.

‘Now slave, you will join us in the annihilation of your race. If you are loyal to me, I may just keep you around.’

She bowed her head to him, wondering if humanity could win a war against this savagery.

***

Planet: Redeem, Class A Prison World

Master Tong was old even for the long years that people lived these days. He had been helped by Edward Blacks new sciences, in prolonging his life. But the years that he had spent on Redeem, had taken the life from him gradually.

His old limbs ached as he rose from his sleeping mat that he had moved from his bed to the floor. He had never slept in a bed, and would not allow himself the luxury even in captivity.

There was a hard knock on his cell door that had awoken him from his light slumber. It had been a few days ago now that the young Bruce had spoken to him, mind to mind. He told him of a visit from an ancient race of beings that wanted the boys help. If this was true, then it was astonishing. Life on other worlds had already been found, but intelligent life was something humanity had yet to discover; until now it seemed. He had advised caution in accepting this strange beings help, but the boy had lost everything dear to him and Tong knew exactly how that felt.

His son Keblie would be in his thirties now. He had other children, but Keblie had the same gift that he and Dorn’s son enjoyed. He could not help but favour his youngest son, and had tried many times to cast his mind across space, the same way this ancient being had done when visiting Caleb. Unfortunately he did not have the power to even get near his old home.

The Elfan; Caleb had called them. The being said that the son of Bruce had the potential to be greater than even he was. If he spoke the truth then one day, Caleb could journey just as far as this Elfan with his mind. A glimmer of hope began to spread through him at that thought. He did not wish freedom. No; not after the mistake he had made costing the lives of innocents. But to speak with his son again, before he passed from this existence was a boon he would ask of Caleb if ever he attained that power.

Suddenly his mind was back on the present, and who was on the other side of the door. No one was supposed to be here this late. He cast his mind to the other side, where he saw a man covered in tattoos. The Mine Hounds had been increasingly hostile towards him recently. Ever since he had met with their leader, in defence of the man Caleb had tried to protect and befriend. The story of the boy’s short time in the pit was now legendary, after he had killed three of the Mine Hounds top fighters, with an ease of someone who was a veteran of the deadly arena.

The grate to Tongs cell slid open to reveal the amused face of one of the feared gang’s enforcers.

’May I help you?

Tong asked cautiously.

The man just stared at him menacingly, hoping to scare the feeble looking old man. He would be greatly disappointed, if he thought he could intimidate a warrior of Tongs calibre. No matter how decrepit he had become.

‘You shouldn’t have spoken for the boy old man.’

He said to Tong in a Latin accent. The scars cut into his cheeks, were more or less symmetrical on both sides of his face. This was testament to the many hits this man had made, on behalf of the Mine Hounds.

‘So?’

Tong replied with a stone like expression, in the face of the death dealer.

‘So; because they can’t kill the boy. They are taking their frustrations out on you.’

As he said this he nimbly slipped a hose pipe through the grate and a liquid covered Tong soaking him and the walls of his tiny cell. Tong did not even move as he was covered in fuel, making him stink of fumes.

‘You are sure you want to do this?’

The Mine Hound enforcer looked confused. Most men he had killed would normally be screaming for mercy right now. It unnerved him to watch the calm old man drip with liquid fuel, and appear to not care ever way, whether he lit him up like a torch.

‘Yes; I do want to do this old man.’

He struck a match, hoping to get at least a small amount of fear from his victim.

‘Very well; I did give you a choice.’

The Mine Hound laughed and threw in the lit match that instantly ignited Tong in hellfire. In moments the entire cell was ablaze with fury that engulfed the old Master. He watched the Mine Hounds shocked face at his lack of pain. He certainly felt it, but he had seen the canister of liquid at the feet of the killer, and had prepared his mind to close off what should have been excruciating. He had warned this killer not to do what he had come to do. But Tong knew that his killer, would have been killed himself if he did not carry out this pointless hit.

He would wish he was dead, when Tong was finished with him. His long life was finally at end. It was a horrific end, but he had wanted death ever since he came here, all those many years ago. That did not mean his killer should not suffer, he decided as he launched his mind into the perturbed enforcer. Who gripped his temples at the sudden intrusion of his mind. He screamed in an agony from the thought bomb, that Tong had launched. His screams could be heard down the corridors. Tong was now the one laughing. He felt good about sharing his pain, with this pathetic excuse for a man.

Tong dropped to his knees and his blackened flesh crunched as he hit the floor. He cast his mind out to Caleb, in a final farewell. Then he passed away with a last breath.

Outside his cell, the sound of screaming had stopped, to be replaced with gargling sound of the now mindless Mine Hound. It would be his last hit.

***

Caleb felt the psychic wave hit him, like a force of a hurricane. The images of Tong burning, and his killer screaming were as clear to him, as if he was standing beside the wise old master. He had yet to learn the mysteries that Master Tong could teach him about himself. This fact was not the only thing that pained Caleb.

He had no other friends here, other than his father’s old teacher. That was now a chard corpse, at the hands of the brutal gangs of this unforgiving prison. Before he finally died, Tong sent a farewell to him, and Caleb’s resolve broke after yet another loss.

He screamed into the heavens, causing the cavernous dungeon to echo like thunder. He did not cry; yet felt a sadness that he channelled into a cold rage. The Mine hounds would die, the Warden would die, Wellin would die, his parents killers would die. If anyone stood in his way, they would meet the same end. He did not care anymore whether he lived or died. He would have his vengeance, and only the blood of his enemies would quench his fury.

Caleb would wait no longer to look for ways to get off this god forsaken planet. For over a year now he had suffered torture, isolation and depravity. He had been forced to fight for the entertainment of others, and had killed for their pleasure. He still did not know what his capabilities were; but soon they would replace out. They would be the first to feel the son of Dorn Bruce’s wrath.

***

Planet: Akrioka-Orkra- Orkra Clan World

The transport ship lifted above the jungled canopy of the Orkra planet. Its green lush colour hid the multitude of warriors, waiting for transport ships as patiently, as they could.

On the Platform, Thrakka sneered down at his new human pet that had amused him greatly in her pathetic effort to save her skin. It took much to amuse the Shaman lately. He spent most of his time casting out his mind and searching for the hated Elfan. They would soon finish the job of destroying that great empire. It had been a long time since he had one of them on his sacrificial stones. The humans had bought the pointy ears some time, but eventually, he and his endless armies would render them extinct. The resources that the conquered worlds would yield were crucial for the expansion of his people. The blood and gore they sacrificed to their war god Thrag Ork, would also provide a much needed outlet for the tribes pent up rage. It was becoming only a matter of time before they turned upon each other, such was their warlike ways. For millennia they had taken what they had needed, from their enemies. When the first outsiders had come to his people aeons ago, they had destroyed them and took the best of their race, to instruct them on the wonders of their warp technologies. His people had always excelled at engineering. Perhaps this was because of what could be gained from the fruits of the creations. Eventually they learned all they needed to know, of that long forgotten race that had given them their first ships to carry them out to the stars and to conquest.

Later they would meet many other intelligent peoples, and the process of slaughter would begin anew. All technologies of the races would be learned, and used for the further expansion of the tribes. Gakka, His High Chieftain and ruler of a thousand worlds dominated large parts of the Galaxy already. But with the discovery of humanity, he would elicit great envy from the other High Chieftains when he and Thrakka found, and expanded into human space. Few of the other beings had caused them as much trouble, as the ancient but highly advanced Elfan. Humanity would pose no such threat as they had.

If they were all as compliant as this female, he may even try to convince his High Chieftain, if they may be kept as slaves instead of wiped out. Oh, what he could do with a slave workforce of billions.

He could build thousands more pyramids, and sacrifice the ones who had built it, when they had finished their task. If they bred even half as quickly as the mighty Orkra, then he could have an endless supply of slaves, and a potential food source. They were a juicy meat after all. Yes; the High Chieftain would like that.

‘Slave.’ He barked to the human female in her own tongue. The words were not easy to pronounce, but for a Shaman of his greatness, it was only a mild challenge.’

‘How can I serve Master?’

‘You did well sacrificing your own kind; one day you will be asked to do it again.’

The more he spoke to the female the easier it was to get the human words out. When he had touched her mind he made sure to learn all he could about her kind. Their words he now knew, but knowing them and speaking them was another matter. He had conversed with his new slave for days now, trying to perfect the strange sounds they made.

She had been an apt teacher. He would only have to punish her mildly, when she forgot her place. She, like him, was a fast learner.

‘I will do what I must.’

‘Yes you will.’ He confirmed savagely.

‘I have received a communication from the fleet that is following the punitive ship that dared to bombard us.’ He paused to let that fact sink in. Thrakka wanted her to know that her kind was doomed. The many ships that began to rise into the planet’s atmosphere, was testament to the Okra’s unstoppable expansion into human space. He had already pointed out to her, that the fleet she could see was a drop in an ocean, of the full force that the Orkra had at his disposal. ‘There should be enough warriors in that small fleet to enslave your world. But, if by some miracle your race beats of this fleet. Then they will be just the first wave of our true numbers.’

She had not shown as much emotion, as the males of her kind had done. He had told the fleet heading for Earth, that the females seemed the stronger of the sex. The Orkra females were quite formidable as well, he chuckled inwardly. Perhaps he should send them to conquer the humans. But then, who would the Warriors rut with, if the females done all the killing.

The insatiable mating of the Orkra, made it necessary to expand their territories or else they would inevitably turn on each other. It was his job with the other Shamans, to ensure this did not happen. So they gazed out with their minds to search for these new worlds. Thrakka had now struck gold, in learning of the new territories. He would be rewarded greatly for this service, and looked forward to receiving even more Orkra females to add to his ever expanding harem. There would be much rutting indeed, when they were brought to him on the command vessel. They were even now assembling a vanguard, just outside of the planets orbit. This would be the second wave if the first fleet failed.

‘You will be quartered alone slave. I do this for your protection. I fear my kind have developed a taste for your flesh.’

She seemed grateful for this small gift. He would throw her a bone every now then.

They docked with the command ship, and made their way to the bridge where they were greeted by Gakka and Maglak, who looked at his Slave hungrily. They would not harm her, unless Thrakka consented to it. Even though they were superior to him, Thrakka had earned his new pet. He had let them know, that she would aid them in her own people’s destruction.