The Inverse Alliance

Six

One of the yeedak warriors was struck in the chest, the laser beam leaving a huge burn mark. Giol ran to the yeedak who was bleeding profusely from the injury.

"Stay strong," said Giol. He could clearly see that the injury was deep. Even rejuvenation might not help an injury this bad. Knowing that there was nothing he could do for him, he charged toward another robot that was low to the ground. With a single punch, Giol shattered the robot's optical lens. With all his strength, he grabbed it by its broken lens and threw it to the ground, shattering it in a scattered heap of metal and glass. He looked around to see very few robots remaining, but the causalities on the yeedaks' side of the fight were also high.

The battlefield was strewn with the injured and the dead. Blood soaked the ground, leaving it soft under his feet. Giol's heart sank to see that only half of their ranks still stood.

"Ugh, Gi-ol." It was the voice of the elder, lying on the ground, clutching a wounded leg. Giol ran to the elder, followed close behind by all the other warriors who circled around the elder.

"Please, hold still," said Giol. "We can fix your leg."

"No," said the elder. "The rodje need back up. Giol, I need you to lead the others to the birdmen and aid the rodje."

The yeedak talked amongst themselves, unsure about the elder's choice. In yeedak society, a leader does not have a successor, but he or the group can merely elect or choose a new leader depending on the circumstances.

"But why me?"

"Normally, I wouldn't trust you with my life, but since we would have stayed hiding until captured if it weren't for you, then we'll need your tenacity." The elder groaned as he tried to move his leg.

"I'm honored."

"Just don't do anything stupid."

"Uh, okay."

Giol led the warriors toward the cliff where they climbed up the rocky surface. Giol's grip on the rocks was slippery thanks to the blood and oil that covered his body. But he pressed on, his eyes to the ledge.

"Hang in there, Cera," he said. "We're coming."

Once they reached the top and past through the invisibility field, they were shocked to see several more robots waiting for them. The robots opened fired upon the yeedak, but a force field appeared, blocking the laser blasts. Two rodjes stood to the side, extending their arms while holding up the force field.

"Hurry, the birdmen are left vulnerable," said one of the two rodjes. They immediately dropped the force field and backed off, wanting to keep their distance from the bulzir crystals in the yeedaks' vests. The yeedak charged into the compound. They invaded the ships, attacking the adulatohs inside, most of who were already killed or restrained by the rodje.

With their bulzir crystals draining the force fields, the robots were easily left helpless, picked off one by one by the rodje and the yeedak. Screams and the sounds of laser fire echoed throughout the compound.

Despite the sounds of combat and the violence, only one tried to escape. He slinked out of his ship, making a beeline to the nearby forest. As he ran, only one other followed, and she was not going to let him escape.

#

Gurro repeatedly checked behind him, searching for anyone following him. He was not escaping blindly. He had a back up plan in the event that something like this would happen. He had hidden his own ship outside of the compound so he alone could escape. However, as soon as he reached the trees, he felt a large rock hit him in the back. He turned around to see Cera charging toward him.

"Gurro, come here and fight me!" shouted Cera. Gurro ran into the cover of the trees anyway. Cera followed him inside, but barely managed to dodge a laser blast that hit the ground, singeing the grass. Cera ducked behind a boulder. She was painting loudly, fear and exhilaration driving her. She stood there by the boulder, trying to calm down while listening for Gurro to make a move. She did not hear Gurro, presumably because he was waiting for her.

I will not fail, thought Cera. I must conserve my fyreadgy, make every attack count, I must not be reckless like I did with my fight with Bugby.

Cera stood there, repeating those words to herself like a mantra.

Boom! The tree next to Cera exploded into splinters. She covered her eyes from the flying splinters. When she heard another tree blow up, she turned invisible and ran out into the open. There were explosions and debris everywhere. She ran blind through the dust cloud. She skitted to a halt when another laser blast exploded in front of her, leaving a small crater. She released her invisibility and turned to Gurro, the laser cannon in his arm pointed at her.

"Do you think you've won this battle?" said Gurro. "We own you. We created you. And you exist for our purposes. No matter what, that will never change."

"Can't we work something out?"

"What could we possibly discuss? Your people know nothing about the world beyond your own forest. What could your people offer that we don't already have—aside from your lives?"

Cera lifted a blown up tree from the ground with telekinesis and threw it at Gurro, but he easily blasted the tree to pieces.

"You can't alter your fate. You're just a weak little girl."

Angered, Cera tossed another tree at Gurro, to which he too blasted into pieces. While he was distracted, Cera directed another tree toward Gurro. Gurro turned around and blasted the tree, Cera disappearing again while his back was turned.

Cera stood amongst the trees under the cover of invisibility, fighting to halt her rapid breathing.

"Is that all you're capable of?" shouted Gurro. "How disappointing."

Disappointing. That one word stabbed at Cera's heart. Here she was, trying to fight back, but hiding like a coward. That one word haunted her ever since she heard her father say it the day before yesterday.

I mustn't flee, but how can I fight him? wondered Cera. With those weapons of his, I'm powerless to stop him. If only I knew how that suit worked. Wait that's it.

While still invisible, she sat down on the ground and began to meditate. Remembering her training, she shut out all outside distractions and concentrated.

Meanwhile, Gurro held his laser gun out. Knowing the rodje's invisibility all too well, he was reluctant to move, knowing he could step into a trap. "Where are you hiding? You're bound to run out of fyreadgy eventually, so show yourself." He fired more laser blasts into the forest, shattering several more trees into splinters. However, he realized that his laser blast might attract unwanted attention. Deciding to take the risk, he dashed through the trees.

Meanwhile, Cera remained motionless, her consciousness reaching out to the world around her. All thoughts and emotions shoved aside. She only winced in surprise when she finally sensed Gurro running away from her.

#

Gurro reached a clearing where a small ship lied hidden from sight. Just as he was about to open the ship, he suddenly felt stiff and could not move. He managed to force his head around to see Cera holding him in place with telekinesis. Exerting the same amount of strength as Giol, he slowly managed to lift his laser at Cera, but before he could fire, Cera lifted him off the ground and tossed him to the side. He hit the ground with a loud thud, snapping some of the surrounding plant life. Once he was free from her telekinesis, he aimed his laser at Cera, but she had vanished.

"Where are you?" Gurro shouted, firing lasers into the forest. "Come out here and show yourself." He continued to fire at random.

Once he stopped firing, the forest grew still. Neither combatant moved. The only sounds were the sounds of the wind blowing through the trees and the insects buzzing everywhere.

I think I see what she is up to, thought Gurro. She's probably trying to force me away from my ship. But it's strange that she is only fighting defensively. Nonetheless, if I'm going to get away safely, I'll need to out wit that invisibility of hers.

From out of a compartment on his left arm, he withdrew a radar screen. The radar itself was set to detect any source of heat. As soon as he turned it on, a small heat source appeared right in front of him as indicated on the screen. He pointed his laser at Cera and fired, but she saw it coming and dodged out of the way, the blast leaving a large burn mark in the metal of the ship.

Cera became visibility, staring down Gurro, but said nothing or made any other actions.

Gurro hesitated before taking another shot. Seeing the damage he caused to the ship and fearing he would cause more damage, he was reluctant to fire again.

"How many times must you stand in my way?" Gurro charged toward Cera who levitated of the ground as he tried to grab her. Cera landed on top of Gurro's head, holding on to him by the neck. Gurro reached over to grab her, but she conjured a force field around his hand, preventing him from touching her.

Gurro swore loudly, egging on a retort from Cera.

"You say we're property of yours?" said Cera. "We have beaten one of your kind before, and I will beat you now."

"I'm not like that fool, Julwund," said Gurro. He reached for a button on his chest.

Cera leaped off of Gurro just before the suit was charged with electricity. Even from a close distance, Cera could feel the energy radiating off the suit.

Gurro spun around, his hand free from Cera's force field, and fired upon Cera.

Cera erected a force field, but from such a close range, the blast knocked Cera onto her back. Gurro repeatedly fired upon her, the shots dissipating as they hit Cera's force field. As she struggled to keep the force field up, she telekinetically threw a boulder toward Gurro who dodged the attack, but the boulder struck the ship instead, denting it metal hull. Frantic, Cera threw more boulders at the ship. She dropped her force field, allowing her to direct several boulders at once. However, like with the gewebbi fruit, she struggled to toss multiple boulders with telekinesis. She reached out to any rock or dead tree nearby, and simply threw then wildly into the air.

Gurro frantically fired at the flying debris, blasting them as they came near the ship. "I've had enough of your games!" He trained his laser gun on Cera again.

Cera raised a force field again, but Gurro had his gun on full power, blasting Cera with so much force that once it hit the force field, she was propelled backward, landing on the ground with a hard, kicking up dust as she hit the ground.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl for Cera. Despite her daze, she knew that Gurro was training his gun, ready to blast her to oblivion. But as she awaited death, she could not block out the memories of her humiliations when challenging Bugby or the disappointments of her father.

With a subconscious tenacity that surprised even her, she lifted a boulder from the ground without getting back on her feet, and positioned it in front of Gurro's shot. The boulder exploded into pieces, dividing the boulder into at least a dozen fragments. She strained as the one rock turned into many. It was far too many pieces for her to control at once, and yet she stubbornly willed them all aloft, allowing only small fragments and sand to fly away.

I will not die here. I will not fail.

She repeated that mantra in her head. She got onto her feet, her heart racing with adrenaline, she telekinetically thrust the rocks at Gurro, striking him in the chest and face. His suit buzzed in protest, sparks flying everywhere. He collapsed in a heap with the rocks falling around him.

Cera stared at Gurro's motionless body in stunned silence. She spoke to no one in particular, her voice stuttering in disbelief, "Did...I...really do that?" Cera snapped out of her daze when she saw Gurro begin to stir. She immediately turned invisible and sat down on the ground. As before, she was still, ignoring Gurro, ignoring her beating heart, even ignoring her dwindling supply of fyreadgy. She sat there, concentrating.

Gurro got back onto his feet. His suit buzzed and whined as he moved. He reached for the door to his ship and with a pull of a latch, the door slid open. He crawled inside, fuming with anger. Next to the door was a large bomb, square in shape and complete with a keyboard. With a flip of the switch, the bomb's control panel lit up. He slammed the door behind him and ran to the control panel to activate the ship.

Good, the ship's hull is still intact, he thought as he checked the damage report on the computer. That accursed girl. I'm going to finish her off for good, even if I have to blow her to pieces.

The ship's engines roared to life as he directed the ship off the ground. He met no resistance as the ship ascended to the sky. Once he was high off the ground, he withdrew the key that would activate the timer on the bomb.

As Gurro pulled out the key, a thought occurred to him. "For someone who wanted to prevent my escape, she certainly didn't put much effort to prevent my ship from flying off...Unless..." Gurro turned around and fired a laser behind him, but the shot only hit Cera's force field.

Cera stood before him, dropping her force field, bruised, but determined.

"How did you get on my ship so fast?"

"Teleportation, remember?"

"What dullard would enter my ship where I have control of everything here?"

Cera stared at Gurro, the kind of stare that seemed to pierce into the soul. "Not everything."

Gurro began to tremor, his mind psychically invaded. He tried to fight back, but to his surprise, Cera was getting through to him. He grunted and struggled, dropping the key to the bomb on the floor.

Cera's head began to throb in pain, grappling to maintain control. Gurro moved by the will of Cera, but the pain and fatigue of the mind control was so strong that Cera could not force the gun on Gurro, so instead, directed it at the control panel. He fired a shot at a latch near the wall, the one that opened the trap door for dropping the bomb.

Cera collapsed, her head throbbing in intense pain.

Gurro trained his wrist-mounted gun on Cera. "Just what were you trying to do?"

Cera forced herself onto her feet, her headache subsiding. "I just didn't want you to drop that bomb."

"Wait, how would you know what a bomb is? For that matter, how did you know I was going to drop a bomb on you?" Gurro raised an eyebrow as a sudden realization hit him. "You read my mind, didn't you? That's why you've been meditating. You were trying to focus all of your concentration so you could read my thoughts undetected."

Cera smiled. "It's a shame I didn't master mind control."

"Well you're attempt was futile. You're almost out of fyreadgy and I could easily kill you where you stand."

"That's not what I planned on doing." Cera telekinetically grabbed the key from the floor, causing it to fly into her hand. She put it in to the keyhole on the bomb, turned it, and the timer started.

Gurro gasped. "You fool, you'll destroy us both."

"I know...."

Gurro turned around to the control panel, intending to fly back to the ground, but Cera leaped onto his head. He flailed his arms, trying to grab at Cera.

Cera agilely dodged his arms, not wanting to waste what little fyreadgy she had left. She dodged along his shoulders like he was a tree, but Gurro eventually shot her in the leg.

The injury only grazed her leg, but she cried out in pain none the less and fell to the ground. Cera could only look up helplessly as Gurro pointed his laser gun at her, his angry eyes glaring at her. Just as Gurro was about to fire, the bomb went off. Cera erected a force field and was blown out of the ship along with all the fire and debris. Once she was clear of the explosion, her force field disappeared. She did not have the fyreadgy to erect another force field or even to levitate. The wind rushed past her ears as she plummeted to the ground. Resigned to her fate, she used the last of her fyreadgy to send a telepathic message, knowing that probably no one would hear it: Papa, I hope you're proud of me.

Before she hit the ground, she descent suddenly slowed. To her surprise and amazement, she was gently lowered to the ground into her father's awaiting arms.

"Yes, I am proud of you," he said.

As Whoukedo put his daughter down, other yeedak and rodje gathered around her. Some were bloodied and beaten, but otherwise happy and excited. Sohu ran from out crowd and embraced Cera in a passionate hug.

Both Giol and Cera reunited with their families that day. With the adulatohs and their machines defeated, the yeedak and the rodje reconciled, bringing tranquility to their planet.

#

One month later.

The Observer sat in front of his computer screen with nothing to do but watch Rhudo spin away through the vacuum of space.

The Watcher entered the room. "I got those reports like you asked."

"Good, so what do you have to say?"

The Watcher sat down next to him. "It's just as you suspected. The new owners of Gurro's company have filed for bankruptcy. It seems Gurro invested too much into his droid armies. After his death, he left his company with nothing. I found no evidence that anyone else wants to claim Rhudo for themselves. It seems, for now, the planet is safe."

"I didn't Rhudo was in any danger. In the end, the adulatohs are not warriors. They're just a bunch of greedy thugs and cowards."

"So, how is Rhudo's champion doing?"

"See for yourself."

On the computer screen was Cera engaged in another psychic duel with Bugby. The audio was turned off, but they could see Bugby struggling to evade and block Cera's attacks. After one last final blow, Bugby collapsed, his fyreadgy depleted. The crowd cheered for Cera. She ran to her father, who was watching from the crowd, and hugged him. He in turned gave her a warm and fatherly smile.

The End