Emergence by Chris Harris (best feel good books .txt) ๐
Xaosian armies invade the planet Raan, destroying much of the capital as the military, led by General Trexor, try in vain to defend the city of Tapal. Soon after, the Xaosians make a power-play against the Empire which will see the Twelve thrown into chaos.
The planet Narcsia is dying. Storms and quakes claim the planet, threatening to wipe out all life on it. The only hope for the residents is Evacuation Day, but Xaosian forces are closing in on the doomed world.
But none of this matters in the grand scheme of things; something deadly has emerged from the Empire's dark and deadly past, and it wants revenge against those who damned its kind. But when history is written by the victors, who knows who this being's target will be?
The Empire was founded on dark secrets... and all are about to be brought to light.
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- Author: Chris Harris
Read book online ยซEmergence by Chris Harris (best feel good books .txt) ๐ยป. Author - Chris Harris
Xaos can not be allowed to escape.
โIlisa, cover me!โ Strom yelled into the com, as he veered towards The Dominion.
โWill do.โ Ilisa said. โOlaf, do the same.โ
โG-gotcha.โ Olaf's usual jovial voice was cracked and unrecognisable.
As he neared The Dominion, Ilisa and Olaf laid down fire upon the Reapers surrounding it, staying just behind Strom in a triangular formation. Strom fired on The Dominion, punching small holes in the ship's hull. Concentrating his fire on one area, he felt a warm satisfaction when a few Xaosians were sucked out into the vacuum of space, but it was only a shallow distraction. His chest felt constricted and his forehead slick with sweat, and neither had anything to do with his strike on The Dominion.
The flagship's engines glowed orange, before it started to move. โXaos is fleeing!โ yelled one of the other pilots over the ship's com. As The Dominion sped up, Strom tried to follow, the Stinger's engines being pushed to the limit as he did so, before The Dominion activated it L-Drive and disappeared into the depths of space, leaving only Reapers behind.
โLet's ge' back to the ground.โ Strom said to Ilisa and Olaf. โI imagine they could use all the help they can ge'.โ
Strom turned the Stinger around and shot back down towards Tapal. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the flames from the Sea of Oil engulf the coast, presumably destroying coastal towns such as Grist and Jheak. He forced himself to look away. โStrom!โ Olaf yelled, โWe got Reapers on our tail!โ
Something hit Strom's ship, and he knew Olaf was right. Going in to a barrel roll, he avoided more of the Reapers' attacks. As he rolled to the left, he cast his gaze back and saw the two Reapers, each firing from the chain-gun on their nosecone. The nail-like bullet in Strom's Stinger exploded, taking out one of his thrusters;only four left now. The screen blinked a brief warning before Strom slapped it, swiftly dismissing it. โOlaf, Ilisa, how are you faring?โ
โOne wing's been taken out!โ Ilisa shouted quickly; panicked. โI've got it under control for now though.โ
โThey've split up now,โ Olaf said, the slight waver in his voice suggested to Strom that he was trying to keep a level tone. โOne's following Strom, and the other...I think we've lost it!โ Strom could imagine Olaf's smile at that point.
โThat's great, just one to worry about.โ
โOlaf, the other Reaper's behind you!โ Strom heard Ilisa yell, a sense of desperation pouring off of her voice.
โDamn!โ came Olaf's reply. Strom veered the Stinger around as Olaf continued, โThey taken out a thruster...two thrusters, they're right on me, I can't get around them!โ Strom saw the Reaper carefully storming after Olaf; it was a good pilot. Strom locked the Reaper in his sights and fired on it, but the pilot did a barrel roll as they it on Olaf. One bullet took out another thruster, another the right wing.
The final pierced the cockpit, draining the air out of it, before it exploded, launching Olaf into space. Strom pushed the Stinger's four remaining thrusters to the maximum for what seemed like an age, his heart beating against his chest as if it, too, wanted to save Olaf faster than he could. His fists were clenched, but he didn't notice as his nails bit into his skin. It was mere seconds before he got to Olaf, but Strom knew that it had taken a lifetime as soon as he saw Olaf's body; the bullet had punched a hole through his chest. Throwing on his spacesuit, he got out of the cockpit and, with tears in his eyes, cradled his best friend. โOlaf!โ he called, but no-one could hear.
Olaf smiled at Strom briefly, before his eyes closed forever.
Chapter 11: TorsThe bottom-most floor of the house was rather bland, Tors thought. There was nothing on the whitewashed walls that could be seen as decoration, only a sheet of mould above Pandora's screen; obviously caused by the damp in the air. Winds continued to buffet outside, illustrated by the few remaining signs and trees pointing the wind forward. The rain had subsided slightly, or at least, Tors thought it had; the pounding on the windows was not as loud as it was before.
โRain's easing a bit now.โ Tors turned to the others and gave them a half-hearted smile; their house was almost levelled now and they all knew that if the winds got any worse, the house would cease to exist. Acknowledging his smile, Pandora raised her eyebrows and gave a brief nod whilst comforting her hair; it felt her fear. Emola stood at the screen, trying to turn it on but to no avail. โIt's not turning on, Emola.โ
โGod dammit all!โ Emola's scales flashed briefly to a darker blue and he kicked the base of the screen. Tors heard his one of his toes crack as it met the base and Emola winced and grimaced. โPower's out still.โ
โCourse it is,โ Pandora muttered. The power had been out for about an hour now, shortly after the two higher levels were destroyed. โNo-one to fix it.โ
Emola looked round at her and fixed her with a scathing look. โDon't be sarcastic with me.โ
โWhy? It was obvious it wasn't going to work.โ Pandora rose from her chair, hair bristling as if it was challenging Emola.
Emola sighed. โYeah...โ
Pandora sat back down, and her hair wrapped itself around her chest. โWhy did I come here?โ
โI don't know,โ Tors said non-committally, โSomething history based?โ
โI could have gone anywhere else,โ Tors did not know if she had heard him, or if she was even listened him. โBut instead I find myself on a dying world, just to see a glimpse of Adjeti technology. And all it was was the wrecked engine of the world-burner! Nothing interesting! I expected satellites, weapons...โ
She continued for a while more, but Tors had stopped listening by that point and he wondered over to the window. He watched the winds whip up everything on the ground and throw it into a whirlwind which powered through the streets, growing larger and larger as it went. Tors watched it in silence as took down a street-light and picked that up too, swinging it like a club at any victims it could find. But there was no-one outside. There never was anymore. People would rather starve than risk the wind and rain.
The twister of debris stopped abruptly and dropped to the ground with a clatter. The street-light landed on its base, before it teetered briefly and fell with a clang. The few remaining trees fell back to a resting position and the windows stopped rattling. Silence.
โThe wind's stopped.โ Tors observed. โOdd.โ
Emola and Pandora approached the window and checked that Tors was right. โHuh.โ Emola said, โAll it needed was your moaning!โ
Pandora reluctantly smiled at the jibe. โShut up, you.โ
Emola smiled back, and Tors could see a sparkle in his eyes and a brief paling in his scales as he looked at her. Emola dragged his eyes away and looked out of the window again, craning his neck so as to look at everything. Naarl's house was still ruined, but most of it was scattered through the street. Tors was not upset with the old man's demise; he had already gone through that anguish a thousand times as everyone he knew was slowly killed by the storms.
โTors!โ
Tors turned to Emola, who was tugging on his shirt and looked terrified. Pandora also looked over abruptly. โOver there,โ Emola pointed over to where another house stood, mostly intact. Tors could see the outlines of the inhabitants moving inside. โWhat is that?โ
Next to the house was swirling green whirlwind, similar to the one which had been carrying the debris. It moved closer until it reached the middle of the street. It was then when they realised that this was not a natural phenomenon; as they watched, the winds unfurled into a serpentine form comprised entirely of the green, always moving gas. Tors stepped away from the window, and so did the others. โThe hell is that?โ Emola seemed breathless; presumably out of fear, Tors dared not look away from the creature just to check Emola's scales. He knew that his own would be the darkest they had ever been.
The gas at one end of the entity shifted itself into an ovoid shape and Tors saw something bright red within it; an eye perhaps? The ovoid opened into four pieces and let out a scream that echoed around the street, bounding off of the walls. It was impossible to aptly describe what it sounded like, but Tors knew what it felt like; pure fear injected into his ears, complete with the pain.
โWe're going to die, aren't we?โ Emola's question remained unanswered as the creature's head closed up again.
The red light from inside the creature's head seemed to scan everything around it, before it faded again and the creature disappeared. Tors let out a sigh of relief and the tension in the room was shattered.
In their rush to comfort each other, neither Emola nor Pandora noticed that the winds began to pummel the street as soon as the creature disappeared.
Chapter 12: StromโOlaf?โ Strom slapped his face but Olaf could not respond. Ilisa floated next to Strom now and was cradling her brother's head in her hands, stroking his hair with shaking hands. โNo.โ Strom breathed the word as he ran his scanner over Olaf's body once more; still no pulse.
โHelp me get him to my ship,โ Ilisa's voice seemed thicker than normal, all vitality drained from it. โI have a reviver pack there.โ
In the anti-gravity of space, Olaf weighed nothing, but the logistics of moving a limp object in three dimensions was never simple. Eventually, they carefully placed Olaf in Ilisa's cockpit; for a moment he looked peaceful, like he was sleeping. Ilisa sealed the cockpit and removed her helmet, before heading to the back of the small craft, taking care not to lean on Olaf; difficult in the small space of the Stinger. Strom took
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