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

tightened his guard, moving his fists closer to his body. “I’m not in the mood for this.”

The Agadon, Taz, lifted his hand, veins bulging from his biceps. Liberty’s fiery craft lifted into the air. Taz flicked his wrist. The ship shot toward Jaxx.

Jaxx ducked and rolled away from the ship’s trajectory, just as it whizzed by and hit hard against the solid soil, flipping on its back and against a cliff. Shards of red rock careened down the ridge, bouncing off of the transport ship’s belly and onto the white, chilled earth.

Zara crouched and lay Kiyo-zan gently down. “Not in the mood, blue-face.” She pulled her bamboo rifle from her shoulder and pulled the trigger. A purple blaze blasted out of the muzzle.

Taz ducked.

She pulled again and again and again, all the while walking forward at a faster pace, as if she knew her shots would be dodged, but didn’t care.

Taz spun this way and that way, avoiding the rifle fire. He threw his hands up wildly and Zara’s bamboo rifle whirled out of her hands.

Zara didn’t stop, didn’t even twitch.

Taz laughed, narrowing the gap between the two in a few strides. He thrust his fists together in the air.

Zara yelped and jerked to the side, as if he had just given her an energetic right hook. She toppled to the ground, then growled, jumping up on all fours. She pounced forward, unclipping a knife from the chains that crisscrossed her chest and back. “I’m going to rip this blade through your A/I throat.”

Jaxx raced forward, determined to end this blue freak too, and now. Zara might be the distraction he needed.

Taz kneed the air, sending an etheric knee to Zara’s stomach. She bounced backward and flipped head over heels onto her back. She placed the knife’s blade between her teeth, gathered herself, and pushed off the ground. She was just as determined as Jaxx.

Jaxx started in a run. He pumped his legs fast and rushed past Zara.

Taz shifted his eyes to Jaxx and thrust his hands forward.

Jaxx swiped his hands across his own body, diminishing the energy Taz just threw at him.

Only ten feet away, Jaxx lunged forward, seeing the surprise in Taz’s eyes. Jaxx threw his open palm outward, connecting flesh against A/I skin, and squeezed. Taz tumbled backward and Jaxx fell with him, shoving him harder onto the earth, still wrapping his fingers around Taz’s rubbery skin.

Jaxx bared his teeth, bringing in all the Chi he could muster, summoning all the love he felt for Rivkah, all the compassion he had for Kiyo-zan, and the gratitude he had for Zara and Abdu for helping him in these terrible times. Then hate leaked in, anger for the Kelhoon, for Slade stealing him from his home, using him for his own self-interests, and to this Agadon, this blue piece of shit who had not only kicked his ass back on planet Taiyo, but embarrassed Jaxx in front of Abdu.

It was time to end this Agadon.

“Kamooshka sakajika fajka!”

Jaxx jerked back, unconsciously relaxing his fingers around Taz’s neck. He pushed off the ground and stepped back, and glanced up in the direction of the voice. He stumbled when he saw them—hundreds of Kelhoon standing on a ridge, pointing their ion rifles directly at him.

“Give up, Jaxx, and you and your friends will live…for now.”

It was Fox, standing with the Kelhoon, his arm up as if ready to drop it at any second to order Jaxx’s extermination. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kiyo-zan stirring. Good. Kiyo-zan was alive. He’d need his friend for what Jaxx was going to do next.

7 J-Quadrant, Solar System - South of East Rise, Callisto

The Agadon—C-gen—held Rivkah up by her neck and pressed her back against the rocky ridge. His fingers cut off nearly all blood flow and oxygen to her brain. Her face was turning the color of the guy’s tongue, an ugly shade of blue. C-gen squeezed her neck so tightly, she feared her eyes might pop out of their sockets.

He brought up a gun with his other arm, pushing it against her forehead.

Rivkah chopped at his forearm, connecting with several blows. It did no good.

His laugh came out of him like a chainsaw cutting through metal. “We need you and the rest of your friends as bait for Jaxx, but if I accidently press this trigger, my central cortex unit servers recording everything I do will never know it wasn’t an accident. In fact, maybe I can change the server’s orders and have you all killed. All I have to do is…”

He twitched his head to the side several times. A loud beep sounded from what seemed to be his ears.

“Screw you, asshole.” Rivkah brought her Chi up from her solar plexus and to her arms, the hot blaze coursing more strength to her muscles.

She placed both hands on the Agadon’s arm and squeezed hard. She heard a crack, but the Agadon didn’t budge, didn’t wince, didn’t do anything that would indicate any sign of pain. Instead, he laughed.

She twisted her hands, mimicking an Indian burn—an Indian burn from hell.

C-gen’s forearm cracked in two, splitting down the middle. Blue blood splattered across Rivkah’s face and down her chest. She dropped and went directly into a crouch then thrust her fist upward, slamming her knuckles against the blue man’s chin.

His jaw bone crunched and shifted to the side, breaking on contact. He dropped his gun and buckled backward, doing his best to keep his balance.

Rivkah jumped against the ridge, pushed off with her feet, and spun in the air, landing a hook kick on the side of the man’s face.

A loud pop and the skin over his temple bone split open, opened wide, and smoke trailed out.

He dropped to the blue-speckled snow and lay motionless.

Rivkah hesitated, taking a quick glance at the guy. Why the hell was smoke trailing out of his head? Was he a robot more than a biological A/I?

“Get back,” screamed Bogle. “All of you.”

Rivkah twisted. Bogle