The Story Of One World I: Finale
Important Notice: This section contains significant spoilers from the final chapters of “The Story Of One World.” If you haven’t read the previous chapters yet, it’s highly recommended that you do so to fully enjoy the unfolding events. You can find a guide to the chapters here.
Ombro
When Savone briefly informed her that the attack would commence in three minutes, Ombro was in the midst of fervently convincing General Kai that there were no survivors on the ground and certainly no mystical army. She presented several photos from a personal file showing burned villages and heaps of corpses. Her arguments were rapidly depleting, and Savone’s report couldn’t have come at a better time.
Ombro abruptly cut off her impassioned speech and surveyed the main hall of the command center. The thick walls would likely not permit sounds to escape. In the room were the general, two colonels, a major, and four fresh-faced lieutenants, clearly straight from the academy. At the far exit, five space marines; near the back, behind her, another five — the ones who had escorted her from the Echo — plus six regular soldiers.
Well, that’s not a problem, especially now that Ombro can finally unleash her full potential, which she had to restrain while in the capital. Everyone present from the moment of their landing on Fraktura was doomed — nothing could be done about that. General Kai was an extraordinary, even legendary figure, but he would be powerless against the might of Ombro and Savone’s army.
It was time to act.
Ombro glanced around once more, nodded, and activated her suit. The scales of white gwidonium turned black in a fraction of a second. Simultaneously, she made a swift hand movement, focusing on the stream of energy within and harmonizing it with the surrounding forces. This so-called “sorcery” or “magic,” actually a mastery of energy control, had always been carefully concealed by the authorities. Only a few in the Kingdom were trained in these skills, and even they were allowed to use them only in extreme cases. Inisio and General Savone had trained Kashita in just a few years, imposing no such restrictions on her. Ombro hoped Faethon had trained his army just as effectively.
The energy, obeying Ombro’s will, formed a fiery tornado. The heated air trembled, and a jet of flame, shooting from her left palm, instantly incinerated General Kai. At that exact moment, Kashita focused on her right hand, and the air around it turned very cold, thickened, gathered, and a mighty ice spear pierced two lieutenants and a colonel.
What else to do with the energy, how to apply it? She acted on her own now. The bodies of three soldiers disintegrated into atoms, two others were flung high up, smashed against the ceiling, and fell to the floor. The rest Ombro shot down with the general’s service pistol.
No one had time to react, not even to make a sound. But if she hadn’t secured their trust — it could have gone very differently. Now, all data linking “Solvo,” Kai, Fraktura, Kevar Argomantis, and the Bloodthirsty Zealot, Ombro Kashita, had to be erased. She had no more than a minute to erase all records from the cameras and databases, and she immediately delved into the command post computer, sweeping a handful of ash off the touch panel — ash that, just seconds ago, had been the legendary General Kai. Oddly, at that moment, Ombro felt a faint but distinctly discernible emotion: pity. She immediately scolded herself, but the unpleasant residue lingered — after all, the necessity of sharing a body with a weaker being made her weaker, she thought.
Even through the thick metal, she heard the tumult and cries, the cannon shots, and explosions. It had begun. Hastily finishing the data deletion, Ombro pulled a rifle from a dead soldier’s hand and dashed outside. The heavy metal gates of the station slammed shut behind her, and Ombro, dodging a powerful shot, rolled behind a nearby armored cosmobike and quickly assessed the situation. Judging by the intensity of the shooting sounds, the attack was coming from two fronts: from the west and east, from the forest and the mountain range. After a moment’s thought, she decided to head toward the mountains — she had noticed the most significant concentration of equipment and soldiers there.
With a brisk pace, she headed toward the sounds of gunfire and cries, weaving between tents, barracks, and abandoned machinery. Occasionally, she encountered soldiers running in panic, whom she shot down in short bursts. She despised cowardice in people as much as stupidity.
Rounding the last cargo liner, she finally reached the nearest battle site. A handful of space marines had taken up a defensive position in an improvised fortress formed from several large rocks and a cluster of various machinery. The position was advantageous and successful, and the attackers were clearly struggling.
Ombro crouched and made short dashes to the attackers’ position. Someone shot at her a couple of times but, upon recognizing the suit, ceased firing — General Kashita was known and feared by all.
“Who’s in charge here?” Ombro barked.
“Lieutenant Colonel Ugrr-s,” hissed a tall two-headed reptiloid. Ombro noted with some satisfaction that all the attackers were clad in cosmo suits, very similar to hers. Savone had done well in equipping his army.
“Is General Yi commanding the operation?”
“That’s correct.”
“How many personnel?”
“Three thousand, a small company from the fifth regiment.”
“Clear. Air support?”
“En route, we expect it. The enemy’s remaining forces have fortified and can’t be taken without losses from the ground.”
“Keep them pinned down with suppressive fire. Where’s the command post?”
“At the base of the mountain, over there,” the reptiloid pointed with a clawed finger behind him.
Ombro nodded and, ducking under the glowing energy pulses, continued to make her way toward the mountain. She encountered no living opponents, just charred bodies. She reached General Yi’s command post without incident. The massive, heavily armored abyss ship bristled with a couple of dozen guns; above its chiseled form, a hologram of a slowly rotating horizontal figure eight was projected. Approaching the ship, Ombro straightened up and, just in case, raised her hands, showing empty palms. The last thing she needed was to be mistaken for an enemy and incinerated. Five soldiers, representatives of non-human races, rushed out from the wide cargo airlock. They varied in height, build, and even body shape — but each wore a black cosmosuit with red visors.
“General Ombro Kashita!” a loud bubbling voice came from the airlock.
“General Yi,” Ombro replied.
A massive creature emerged from the airlock, which, no matter how bizarre it always seemed to Ombro, was one of Savone’s best commanding officers. General Yi, a representative of the rarest of all known races, the only one the Kingdom had never been able to subdue — the Abyss dragons. The general’s body was about ten meters long, muscular, covered with thin, shiny grey skin. Four clawed paws clicked on the metal floor, and a snake-like head with a massive fanged mouth swayed on a long, thick neck. But the first and most often the last thing anyone meeting an Abyss dragon saw was its eyes. Huge, pupil-less eyes swirling with grey clumps of the Abyss. Dragons usually kept their wings folded and tucked into special notches on their backs — they were the creatures’ most vulnerable spots.
The general’s voice bubbled and constantly changed tones — as unpredictable and erratic as the dragons themselves, as the Abyss from which they emerged.
“Ombro, why did you bring these beings here? We were preparing for war peacefully, and then war came to us. You shouldn’t have done that — I had to interrupt a seven-day meditation before the war in silence and peace because of this misunderstanding.”
“I’m sorry, general. I made some mistakes, but I’ll help you fix them now. Give me command of the air forces, and I’ll quickly finish this.”
“My girl, what have I taught you? Don’t rush into actions, especially forgetting to precede them with meditation and prayer. Finishing up here won’t be difficult, I’ll handle it myself, thanks.”
“I’m sorry, general,” Ombro could never understand why she felt intimidated by this creature. Inisio’s wisdom and authority had not subdued her, Savone’s experience, nor the haughty manners of all the capital’s aristocrats combined, but looking into the dreadful eyes of the dragon, Ombro always felt like a silly little girl.
“Death forgives,” the general replied with the first phrase of the main prayer of the Order of the Infinite Cycle of Death, “although, in fact, you even helped us in our preparations. We were just wondering where to get more transport — and it came flying to us. Well, if you want to fix your mistake — let’s finish this together. Climb on my back.”
With these words, the dragon growled a vocal command and a cosmosuit unfolded around its entire massive body. Tight scales clung to the general’s torso, paws, and muzzle, and two huge wings, now also packed in gwidonium armor, unfolded above him. Ombro cautiously climbed onto the dragon’s side as it bent its front paws, grabbing onto the bristling scales on its neck.
Black dragon and black rider soared into the air and made a wide circle over the battlefield.
Captain Temanov
As the echoes of gunfire and explosions reverberated through the metal walls, Captain Temanov once again tried to free himself. The effects of the shocker had worn off, and his suit’s systems had rebooted, but his arms and legs remained pinned to his torso by the cramped space of his cell. His forehead, crown, and heels pressed against the ceiling and walls. The captain was trapped in a metallic coffin and had no idea how to escape.
Unexpected salvation came from above in the form of an explosion that tore and melted the metal thickness. This very salvation also turned out to be a grave misfortune.
Captain Temanov did not regain consciousness immediately. It was unbearably hot; he couldn’t feel his right leg, while his left leg he wished he couldn’t feel at all due to the excruciating pain he had never experienced in his life.
Directly above, he saw the cloudy sky — meaning the lid of the coffin-like cell had been blown off by the blast wave. Gathering all his strength, he lifted his head, trying to understand what had happened and what was going on with his legs. What he saw shocked him, and he helplessly dropped his head back down. His right leg was smashed into a cooling piece of molten metal, clearly reduced to mush. He felt no pain there, presumably because the suit had managed to inject intramuscular painkillers above the knee — where the leg was undamaged. His left leg was almost intact, save for a piece of metal embedded in the calf.
Shots and cries were coming from everywhere. It seemed someone was attacking the royal troops, and it appeared unlikely that the “Solvo” unit would survive this battle. Temanov did not doubt that Ombro-Kev would come for him to eliminate any witnesses to her (or his) betrayal.
He needed to find a way out. Temanov glanced at his legs again and realized there was only one way out. While the suit’s computer was still functioning, despite the damaged integrity of the armor, he forced himself to overcome the waves of panic and activated all the painkiller injections. A long needle administered intraosseous anesthesia. When the pain subsided, Temanov injected more adrenaline — to stay conscious. To prevent blood from gushing out, he had to adjust the suit to compress the femur tightly, using it in place of a tourniquet. Temanov sat up, pulled the sharp piece of metal out of his left calf, then clenched his teeth and began to saw off his right leg just below the knee. He made a circular incision, then sawed through the bone. Perhaps it was the shock state or the anesthesia’s effect, or maybe the overwhelming will to live, but Temanov was almost calm.
He knew the drugs would wear off within half an hour at the latest. He crawled out of the mangled coffin, grabbing at the blast-torn floor, and dragged himself toward the open airlock. Outside, he looked around. He saw military corpses lying here and there and heard shouts and gunfire from all directions.
Directly in front of him, on the landing pad, stood “Echo.” The small ship, hidden in the shadow of enormous war abyss ships, appeared undamaged. Temanov gritted his teeth and slowly dragged himself towards the cosmobike, trying to make no noise and ready to play dead at any moment — it wouldn’t be hard in his condition. Crawling over the bodies of soldiers, he tried to push away any thoughts about these young men’s fate, the senselessness of their sacrifice. Right now, he needed to save himself — only then could he do something, save his mother and sister.
He had almost reached “Echo’s” open cargo airlock when a massive shadow momentarily blocked the diffuse sunlight. Slowly, he turned around, propping himself up on shaking hands. Above the camp, a black dragon soared high. It dived down in a low sweep, barely touching its clawed feet to the cosmobikes, then soared high and circled there, dropping screaming space marines from the sky. During another dive, Temanov noticed with horror a small black figure on the monster’s back.
Fear and hatred mixed in Temanov’s thoughts, and he forced himself to look away from the terrifying sight and crawled into “Echo’s” hold. Overcoming increasing pain, he gave orders to the onboard computer, charted a course, and climbed into the cryochamber. With a final effort of will, he turned off the remnants of his suit and activated deep freeze mode. All he could hope for was the accuracy of his commands and “Echo’s” skill. And, most importantly, luck.
Ombro
After dispatching the last cluster of foes, the dragon swooped onto the command station’s spire, clutched the metal with its talons, and surveyed the battlefield.
“If it continues to be this easy, we’ll quickly subdue the King and his armies,” General Yi rumbled contentedly.
“General, it won’t be that simple moving forward. First, that was a small, autonomous unit unaccustomed to full-scale combat. Our attack took them completely by surprise. We won’t enjoy such advantages against the Kingdom’s main military forces. Moreover, the battles will occur in space, not on planets, where space troops have significant superiority and, importantly, experience. So, we should brace ourselves for a tough fight.”
“Especially you. I hear Inisio is pleased with how you initiated her plan in the capital, and she has already blessed you for the next phase of the game.”
“I’m glad to hear that. However, I’ll now need to operate much more delicately. The blunt tactics I used before won’t work anymore. Well, soon we’ll see what I’m really capable of. More accurately, what we are capable of now.”
“Oh, you’ve managed to convince Kevar?”
“Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time, and I still have a small margin to work with. It’s worth the effort — his help would significantly amplify my strength.”
“It will, Ombro. But don’t forget about the danger I’ve warned you about. This path to reunification holds perils for both of you. One mistake, and you both could remain irreparably crippled, destroying all your and our collective plans along with your life.”
“I remember, General. I remember.”
At that moment, a tiny gray ship rocketed into the sky above the army’s abyssal crafts and quickly vanished behind the clouds. General Yi twitched, ready to give chase, but Ombro stopped him:
“Let it go. We’ll have to come forward soon anyway, so if someone survived and reports back to the capital — that could actually work in our favor. Panic is precisely what will aid me moving forward.”
Meanwhile, the little abyssal craft sped farther and farther from Fraktura and then past the Great Crystal Belt. Yet, it flew in the opposite direction from the capital, towards a place where Judjur Temanov might truly find help.
Epilogue
Kevar
Kevar awoke as abruptly as he had lost consciousness. He instantly remembered everything, and a deep, piercing soul pain gripped him. Hot tears streamed onto the cold stone floor, and a lump in his throat made his sobs muffled and subdued. How long he writhed on the floor in the darkness is hard to say.
After an indefinite time, the pain slightly dulled; tears still flowed down his cheeks, but Kevar no longer noticed them. He sat up and began to look around. It was as dark as during late twilight. The only dim light source flickered somewhere in the distance, illuminating dark silhouettes of a tangled network of passages below.
Kevar clearly understood that he had to navigate through the entire labyrinth to escape the darkness and reach the light. This realization plunged his mind back into chaos, and he dropped his head into his hands.
Dark. Very dark and quiet. So quiet that I can hear my heart pumping blood through my body with tight beats. Who am I? Where I am? Why am I here? I’m scared, I don’t know what to do next. All that remains for me is silence and darkness, and the echoing beats of my heart.
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