Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller by Brandon Ellis (easy to read books for adults list txt) 📕

fire, heading in Fox’s direction. Off in the distance, they saw a heavy exchange between the S.A.S.M.’s and the Taiyonian men Jaxx left a short duration ago. The S.A.S.M.’s, though, were heading back. Were they going back to the dropship? This fast? They’d just landed. It wasn’t like an S.A.S.M. team to turn tail and run, leaving a mission without attempting to fully carry it out.

Up ahead, a flurry of bombs detonated and Fox came into view as he was tossed high, flipping in mid-air.

Jaxx ran faster. “Trap initiated, let’s take him. Get the e-straps ready.”

Kiyo-zan held both hands together as he ran, his gold, metallic wrist bands ignited, and a long energy-chord manifested. He gripped the chord tight in one hand, pulling the bow from his back with the other hand.

Jaxx scooped up a pine cone, took in a big whiff out of the top of it, then dropped it on the ground. Instantly, more endurance and strength came to him. He rounded a tree and saw Fox getting up, his exo-suit covered in black soot, a chunk of his leg armor hung by a sliver.

Fox turned and in a quick motion, grabbed his weapon and let off round after round.

Jaxx and his buddies went into a defensive crouch and activated their shields, leaning into the concussive blasts.

“Enough!” yelled Jaxx, pushing his arm outward, sending a mass amount of Chi. A flow of dirt erupted in front of him and a line of soil catapulting out of the ground, speeding toward Fox. Fox lifted off the ground and was pushed sideways, landing hard on the forest floor.

Mako-zan smiled, then laughed, letting down his shield. A blast rocketed into Mako-zan and ripped through his upper back and out his chest. He took the hit well and stood his ground. He then gave Jaxx a stunned looked. His eyes rolled back and he fell face first.

Kiyo-zan and Jaxx twirled around, seeing an S.A.S.M. member heading toward them. In a few minutes, the entire Taiyonian Kasai Company would be here, but not soon enough.

“Kiyo-zan, hold him off. I’ve got Fox.” Jaxx rushed Fox and leaped from a higher position. He landed on Fox’s back as the S.A.S.M. leader went to get up.

Fox slammed into the dirt, then twisted, pushing Jaxx off of him.

Jaxx kept his balance and remained on his feet. He eyed Fox’s Oospor dropship only twenty yards away, powering up and about to lift off as a dust cloud started to form under it. Some of the S.A.S.M. team must have made it to the craft.

Fox ran toward the dropship, detaching a percussion device from his leg armor and tossing it over his shoulder.

Hitting the ground, the device lit up like a light, momentarily blinding Jaxx and everyone else in range. It rose into the air and twirled, then exploded shrapnel and neurotoxins throughout the area.

Jaxx dropped to the ground and curled into a ball. Lifting his arm, he initiated his shield. Pieces of thick munition pounded against his shield along with neurotoxin spray. It lasted a few seconds before Jaxx pushed to a standing position. Kiyo-zan was by his side, his shield up, safe as well.

Jaxx took a deep breath. Fox had boarded the dropship. Chasing him now would be useless. He dropped his head, then gasped. He remembered something. Fox would be a sitting duck upon lift off or shortly thereafter. A few Taiyonian starfighters were on their way, ready to bombard the S.A.S.M. team. A few cannon bolts and short range missiles would blink the dropship out of existence.

“Call it off.”

Kiyo-zan blankly stared at Jaxx. “Nani?”

“You heard me. I said, call it off.”

Kiyo-zan relayed the message through his wrist bracelet. He shot another look at Jaxx. “Doshite son’za koto o zimashita?”

“Why did I call it off?” Jaxx searched his heart. “I don’t know.” He wanted to say because he was a dumbass, but that would be too simple, too easy. It was something intuitive, telling him that if they ended Fox’s life, a piece of Jaxx would end as well.

Kiyo-zan paced a few steps to Jaxx and placed his hand on Jaxx’s heart. “Wakarimazu.”

“Thank you for understanding.” Jaxx patted Kiyo-zan’s hand, closing his eyes, then taking a sudden quick breath.

Opening his eyes, he was back in the dome, in the place called Flood of Dawn.

A hand gripped his. It was Fox, still on the table, eyes narrowed. “You saved me. Why did you save me?” His eyes darting left and right. “And why are those red cones important?”

Jaxx shrugged, pulling his hand out of Fox’s grip. “I don’t know. They open up something in us.”

“They open up your soul,” came a woman’s voice.

Jaxx spun. Liberty stood in an open doorway, Rivkah by her side. “Come with me. We don’t have much time. There’s something important you need to see.”

Fox pushed himself off the bed, his voice low. “I fight for SSP only. Not for you. Not for Jaxx. I’m giving you an hour to get me back space-side before I fuck more shit up. I owe Jaxx this, but only once.”

Liberty dipped her head. “If you wish.”

41

Georgia and Tennessee Border - Earth

“I don’t exactly know where your father is,” explained Drew, his eyes on the road, the vapors from the gas cans seeping into the car from the trunk.

They had used all but four gas cans, an odd gift from an even more odd and suspicious drone. Drew could count on his fingers how much luck he’d had his short life and he was happy to count one more.

“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” his mother used to say when he was younger.

“Then how do you know I’ll see him?” asked Mya.

Drew blinked a couple of times, staring at the road. Dusk was settling in. He was out of the mountains and heading for the shared Tennessee and Georgia hills, otherwise known as Lookout Mountain. From his estimation, he’d be there in twenty minutes or so. Then, what?

He tapped his noggin.