Star Cat: War Mage Read online

  Contents

  Chrome Valley Books

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Acknowledgements

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  CHAPTER ONE

  “We discover, adapt and create.

  Acting on our discoveries is all we have.

  Let us not regret our indecisions.”

  Pascal D’Souza

  (2056 - 2111)

  ***

  Botanix

  Space Opera Beta - Level Three

  Dozens of Shanta creatures snaked through the broken Botanix wall. Tripp, Bonnie, and Jaycee lifted their firearms and prepared to blast the creatures to smithereens.

  "What did Wool say?" Bonnie turned to Tripp. "What’s up with Jelly?"

  He hooked his finger around the trigger and prepared to take a shot at an incoming creature, "She’s pregnant."

  BAM-SPLATCH!

  Tripp blasted the Shanta’s slit open. The beast exploded, tossing its twelve severed limbs in all directions.

  “What?” Bonnie tore her gaze away from the bullet-storm, “Say that again?”

  “I said Jelly’s pregnant,” Tripp shouted over the gunfire.

  “God damn it, there’s thousands of them,” Jaycee thumped the side of his floor-mounted K-SPARK turret. The meter on the side of the barrel displayed a rapidly reducing ammunition level, “Less than five hundred rounds. I figure we have two minutes before we’re outnumbered.”

  BAM-BAM-BAM!

  The turret swung back and forth, firing at the swathes of Shanta creatures scuttling along the ground, walls, and ceiling.

  Several of the disgusting beasts exploded. Their pink gore splattered the already-desecrated rows of plants.

  Jaycees finally processed the revelation, “Wait a minute? Pregnant?”

  “That’s what Wool said,” Tripp flung his empty Rez-9 magazine at the creatures, “That’s it, I’m out.”

  Thousands of Shanta scurried over the sandy horizon towards the ship. Tripp threw his gun at them. They tussled over each other in an attempt to grab it with their talons.

  The water dispenser that Tor and Jelly had taken cover behind earlier caught Tripp’s attention.

  “Jaycee, we need to get out of here but the door might not hold them back. Come and help me.”

  “You got it.”

  “I got you covered, go,” Bonnie slammed her Cortex K-12 leg into her palms. The end of her boot slid open and released five canon-barreled toes, “Come and get some, you ugly sonofabitches!”

  THRAA-TA-AAA-ATT-TT!

  The bullets shredded through the limbs of the dozen-strong Shanta. Most slumped to the floor and bled their internal fluids into the five-inch pool of fresh water on the ground.

  “I can’t hold them off much longer,” Bonnie palmed the lever on the side of her leg, “Reloading.”

  Tripp watched Jaycee grab the sides of the water dispenser, “Do it.”

  "I am, I am,” the great hunk of android wrestled with the unit, “It’s heavy.”

  “So are you.”

  “Yeah, but I’m not attached to the wall, am I?”

  BAM-BAM-BAM-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK…

  The mounted K-SPARK turret emptied its final magazine into the hordes of creatures and clicked into nothingness. The oscillator function whirred down to a close.

  "That’s it, we’re outnumbered and outgunned," Tripp shouted at Bonnie.

  CLUNK-SCHLAMM!

  Jaycee wrenched the water unit from the wall with an almighty crunch, “Got it. Stand back.”

  A hefty, continuous blast of pure water splashed over Jaycee as he turned around with the unit in his arms, “Go on, get out of here. Now.”

  Bonnie stomped her Cortex K-12 limb rifle to the floor and darted over to the door, “Let’s get outta here.”

  Tripp took one last look at the hungry creatures. They shrieked and jumped from the white sand and flooded Botanix, “Jaycee?”

  He slammed the unit to the ground beside the door and thumped the compartment on the side of his leg, “Yeah?”

  “You coming?”

  The Botanix door slid open. Bonnie hopped through it and beckoned Tripp to join her, “Come on, quick.”

  “You want them to spread through Opera Beta like a damn virus?” Jaycee took out a sliver of wire from the cavern in his leg. He wound it around the one hand he had left and attached it to the water unit.

  “I’ll take my chances on sealing these bastards in here, thanks.”

  Tripp stepped back through the door, “No, but—”

  SCREEEEEEEEE!

  A Shanta extended each of its twelve limbs and used the back four to launch itself at Jaycee.

  “Christ, get out of there,” Bonnie said.

  Jaycee snapped the wire taut and kicked himself away from the unit.

  SCHWIPP!

  The wire lifted up and juddered to a halt in mid-air.

  SCHTING-SCHTING-SCHTANG!

  The creature spun its limbs around like a carnival ride and extended its talons. It smashed against the wall in two halves having been dissected by the goo-drenched wire.

  “Jeeez,” Tripp slammed the panel on the other end of the door, trying to close it, “C’mon, c’mon, close."

  “Wait up,” Jaycee bounded toward the door as it began to close.

  “Let’s go, come on,” Tripp held his hand through the closing door as Jaycee stomped towards it, “There’s another one behind you.”

  If Jaycee had stopped to look over his shoulder, he’d have seen a fifteen-foot Shanta fan all its limbs out like a giant, fleshy cobweb.

  Tripp saw the bicycle-like monstrosity as Jaycee bolted towards the door, “Oh, oh, damn.”

  Jaycee’s palm slammed into Tripp’s, “Gotcha.”

  “Get the hell of here, now.”

  Tripp yanked Jaycee through the door and slammed the panel on the wall.

  The Shanta fanned its limbs out like a cartwheel and rolled toward the door, “Screeeeeee—”

  SCHWIP-SCHA-JUNT!

  Jaycee fell to the floor and tugged on the wire. The gossamer-thin strip wound taut. The door slammed down on it, yanking the water unit across the floor. It crashed against the creature’s front two limbs, shattering the bones and flesh. The force knocked the cartwheeled vision of death onto its side. It squealed in pain as the rest of the Shanta stampeded over it.

  BOOM.

  The door slammed shut, providing a fantastic view of the utter chaos behind the window.

  BOP-BOP-SLAM!

  Bonnie stepped back and held out her hands, “I don’t want to be here, anymore.”

  “You don’t say,” Tripp offered Jaycee his hand, “Get up, soldier.”

  Jaycee climbed to his feet and brushed his exo-suit down. He detached the wire from his belt and moved to the window with great curiosity, “What the hell are those things?”

  Tripp couldn’t provide an explanation, “I have no idea.”

  Jaycee reached into the compartment in his leg and took out a
red dumb bomb. He teased the pin with his thumb, “Do I have your permission to toss this in Botanix and buy us some time?”

  “If you do, we lose oxygen—”

  “—Are you out of your mind, Healy?” Jaycee stomped his boot to the floor. The arsenal inside his leg compartment rattled around.

  “Have you seen the state of Botanix? It’s as good as over, anyway.”

  “But the oxygen?” Bonnie asked. “We’re screwed without it.”

  Jaycee turned to the window once again. The Shanta chewed and ravaged their way through the charcoaled plants and soil and bashed against the door.

  “You’re forgetting one thing,” Jaycee flicked the pin from the dumb bomb. The lights lit up and the device armed itself, “We don’t need oxygen. We’re Androgynes.”

  Jaycee grabbed the lip of the door and pulled it across its slider. “Nggggg…”

  Biddip-biddip-biddip-beeeep.

  “Go to Medix and find Wool. Go, go,” Jaycee tossed the live dumb bomb through the ten-inch gap in the door.

  Tripp and Bonnie shot off down the walkway.

  Jaycee to pushed the door shut. The Shanta backed away from the beeping device rolling around the floor. One of them crouched on its front four limbs. Its top ‘arms’ bent over and tried to pick it up the rolling grenade.

  “Screeeeeeee,” another shouted when realizing what the device was.

  KA-BLOICK!

  The dumb bomb exploded. A torrent of pink gloop splattered up inside of the door’s window. Jaycee caught sight of his severed left hand in the window as he tried to flip them the bird. Unfortunately, no hand - no fingers.

  “Bon appetite, you ugly bastards.”

  He turned around and raced up the walkway where Tripp and Bonnie had gone moments earlier.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Tor sprinted across the level three walkway and pressed his fingertips along the red mark around his neck. The Decapidisc had turned the skin on his neck raw during the time he wore it. The mark resembled a choker. The pain was very real; an unfailing reminder of just how unpopular he was with the Opera Beta crew.

  “Where did that damn cat go?”

  He scanned the staircase looking for her. The emergency strip lights on the floor provided limited visibility in the darkness.

  “Jelly? Where are you?”

  His footsteps echoed along the metal gantry as he made his way to the staircase.

  No sign of her.

  “Miew,” came a familiar cry on the descent to level four.

  "Jelly?" Tor hollered once again and placed his boot on the top step, "It’s okay, I won’t hurt you. Where are you?"

  Jelly’s light whimpers crept up the staircase. Tor gripped the railing and made his descent.

  Her continued whining indicated her close proximity.

  "Jelly, I know you’re here—Whoa!"

  He tripped up and tumbled to the halfway turn in the staircase. His shoulder blades slapped against the ground, forcing him onto his side.

  He blinked a couple of times and caught sight of Jelly on all fours, snuggled against the fifth step.

  "Miew," she cowered.

  "You vicious pussy," Tor kicked himself back, uneasy at the sight of Jelly’s cat-like face, "What are you looking at me like that for?"

  Her ears pricked up. Somehow, she looked more human than she did not ten minutes ago.

  "Hisss…"

  "Okay, okay," Tor pushed himself to his knees and stood up straight. He held out his arms and took a step forward.

  Jelly revealed her incisors. She flapped her tongue and began to purr - this time, not in a friendly way. An intense growl rumbled through her body as she backed up the next available step, "H-Hate you."

  Tor threatened to scoop her up, "I’m not the bad guy, Jelly. I know you think I am, but I’m not."

  "Grrr…"

  She climbed onto the next step and hissed at him again. Her beautiful, flowing hair fell down her back. She demanded freedom.

  "Grrr…" she bushed her tail out and slapped it against the step.

  "Come on, sweetie—"

  Jelly’s face pulled back as she roared at him. A scary-looking half-cat, half-girl. Frozen solid with his arms outstretched he finally processed the vision of perversion in front of him.

  “What happened to you, girl?”

  “Hate you," Jelly’s six-year-old girl’s voice croaked as she spoke. She extended her infinity claws and ran them across the step. The screeching noise and was unbearable.

  “We have to get you back to Medix,” Tor failed to grasp the bizarre nature of having to negotiate that with a sort of cat, “Wool says something is happening to you.”

  “Stay back,” Jelly hopped up the next three steps. She entered a shaft of light billowing in from the level three walkway.

  Tor clamped eyes on her face. A moment ago she looked like a cat with a human face. Now, in the unmistakable harsh light, the opposite was true. A girl with cat-like features. Her Titanium whiskers fizzed and sparked.

  Her ears remained further up the side of her head, unlike a human’s. Her nose had protruded into human form. A strange, pink hue bleached out from under the white sheet she held against her body.

  “I go,” she meowed, “You stay.”

  “You want me to stay here? In the staircase?”

  “Away from the gift.”

  Tor looked at her belly and swallowed hard, “What is that you’re doing?”

  Jelly turned around and climbed the six remaining steps. Her tail swished around as she bolted across the walkway.

  “No, come back,” Tor grabbed the rail and hoisted himself up the steps, “Jelly, please. They’ll kill me if I lose you.”

  Jelly scrambled on all-fours along the metal grilles. The walkway shifted around and began to vibrate. She stopped and pressed the side of her body against the wall in protest, “Miew…”

  Frightened, she scanned at her surroundings. Her paws vibrated up a storm and shifted along the floor. The movement had nothing to do with her, though - the ship had come to life.

  One by one, the lights in the walkway punched to life. An intense hum rumbled behind the level three walls as its bulbs shone brighter.

  Jelly tried to adjust to the commotion by pacing around.

  Tor approached her from behind with extreme caution, "Jelly, come on,"

  She spun around and howled in his face, “No.”

  “But, but—”

  KERR-RUNCH!

  Jelly’s forearms shot out in front of her body. Tufts of fur coughed into the air as the skin underneath bulged. The bones within cracked forward and thickened.

  “Mee-oowwww…” She struggled in front of an astonished Tor and rolled onto her back.

  “Jesus, what’s—” Tor couldn’t finish his sentence.

  Jelly’s abdomen pulled out and up. Her first layer of skin pushed out in all directions. The pink glow in her stomach boomed beyond the sound of transforming bone and flesh.

  Tor took a step back in shock, “This is insanity.”

  The ship’s rumbling and Jelly’s pain was too much for him to take.

  “Roowwaaarrr…” Jelly kicked herself against the wall and ran her infinity claws across the fur on her stomach.

  “Jelly, what’s happening to you—”

  SPLATCH!

  A mound of pink phlegm soared from her mouth and slapped to the ground. Her tongue flapped around her teeth as she caught her breath.

  She pounced forward on all fours and bolted down the walkway, much to Tor’s amazement.

  "Come back."

  He gave chase, realizing at once that she could well outrun him.

  Tripp and Bonnie approached Medix at speed. During the battle she’d failed to notice that half of the left side of his face was missing.

  Bonnie gasped, “What the hell happened to you?”

  “Oh this?” He pressed his fingertips along the cavity on his head. His cheekbone was missing from his suicide attempt. Rows of teeth and a solita
ry fluorescent bulb lighting up the visible interior of his skull shone through his metal skull, “Turns out we’re not dissimilar, after all. You and I.”

  “How did you take the news?”

  Tripp stopped and pointed at his ghastly facial wound, “Does this answer your questions?”

  Bonnie smirked and shook her head, “Yeah. I know the feeling.”

  “You don’t know jack about how I feel,” Tripp pushed past her and continued down the walkway, “Keep your patronizing to yourself.”

  “Actually, Tripp, I do know how you feel.”

  The ship fired to life as Bonnie caught up to him. She held the wall as the corridor rotated a few degrees like a tumbling bottle of soda.

  “What was that?”

  Tripp looked at the ceiling just as the lights snapped on.

  “We’re moving. Manuel must have gotten the thrusters to work.”

  “Hey, guys. Botanix and its new guests are taken care of,” Jaycee arrived at the pair and thumped his fists against the wall, "There’s life in the old girl, yet."

  "Jaycee?" Tripp asked. "What’s the state of Botanix?"

  "I’d say it’s in a terrible state. She’s taken a second dumb bomb. Only this one was deliberate, unlike Baldron’s."

  "Yeah, for now."

  “Well, I’m glad I wasn’t in there when the damned thing went off, that’s all I’ll say.”

  Tripp made his way to the Medix entrance, "Let’s get the hell out of this godforsaken pink piece of crap."

  Bonnie clapped her hands together three times, "Amen to that."

  Tripp rolled his shoulders. The whirring connectors and bolts in his face shot through his ears, serving as an unwanted reminder of his current state.

  "Let’s get to Medix. Make sure Wool and Jelly are okay."

  "And Tor?" Bonnie asked

  Tripp palmed the panel on the wall, forcing the Medix door open, “Hopefully she didn’t spend any of her nine lives kicking his ass to kingdom come."

  Medix

  Space Opera Beta - Level three

  Wool ar-Ban stared at her reflection in the window. Way down below, the virus-like array of Shanta scurried across the sand looking for something to kill. She averted her gaze back to the reflection of her face.