Chapter 8 - The Prince

“AAAAAUUUUBERGINE CRUISER?” Jerro’s voice called out as it caught up, seemingly dragging in their wake as they soared out of the chromatic waterfall which accompanied the chronoarch transit.

The whooshing percussive sound followed as the world came into focus and the colors found their shape.

“That’s… a horrible name” Greg said as he moved toward the edge of the open air deck to survey their surroundings. “You're the only one that even calls eggplant that.” Greg added as he took in the scene. “My grandmother called it that, it’s a good name!” Jerro replied assertively.

They were flying, maybe a hundred or so tails above a surface of lush greenery, so thick that it took a moment for Greg to understand what it even was. He looked back at Jerro who was approaching him to have a look himself and then at Mari who was confidently piloting the ship at the holographic control array.

They were moving parallel with a valley lined by short hills and a large river, easily visible from their position, snaking down the center of the valley and dumping into a body of water. 

Even at this altitude, the air was humid and dense. In the distance, there was a break in the canopy and Greg spotted movement.

“Look!” he pointed out to Jerro.

“What in The Burrow are those?” Jerro replied as they both set eyes on what appeared to be several massive grayish green quadrupedal creatures covered in some sort of armor plating with tails that terminated with a large hammer like structure.

Suddenly the ship lurched and the sound of explosions overtook them as Jerro and Greg grasped the railing.

“Hang on boys, we’ve got a bit of a situation on our paws!” Mari yelled, as the explosion was replaced by a series of high pitched whirring sounds. The source of which became apparent as a group of three large bird-like flying creatures ripped by the ship at close proximity, equipped with a blaster of sorts on their dorsal side. As the creatures passed the ship, the blasters pivoted around and released another volley, striking the ship again.

“Initiating reflexive shielding and recommending evasive maneuvers” the same calm voice that had accompanied them in their quarters once again permeated their minds.

“Yeah, no kidding!” Mari said sarcastically and asked aloud “Does this thing have any defensive weapons or what?”

“Of course, there is a turret in the fore and another in the aft of the ship” the voice said calmly as a secondary explosion rocked the ship.

“Jerro, see if you can run some damage control on that hit we took, Greg, you heard the house voice thing, pick a turret and let’s rock these feathered jerks!” Mari commanded confidently.

Jerro made his way into the interior of the ship and Greg to the forward positioned turret. He slid into the cushioned seat where he had a near full view of everything going on in front of the ship.

“Alright how do I turn this thing on” Greg thought to himself “use your mind obviously” the voice said “hey don’t be snarky to my friend” Mari’s voice joined the mind space. “Uhhh I can hear you guys, also I think I’ve got this fire out, I’ll patch the hull damage, there’s some tools down here” Jerro communicated mentally.

“Oh cool, so we’re all like, telepathically linked?” Mari asked as she dove the ship down to evade another volley of laser fire from the attackers.

“Yes, on Station, you were all attuned to the same psionosol frequency, and myself as well, to be your guide, isn’t that exciting?” The voice said in its typical calm demeanor.

“Totally…” Greg said aloud with minor enthusiasm and a side of sarcasm. He spun the turret with his mind and found the formation in an adaptive heads up display. The target acquisition system began tracking the feathered creatures with Greg’s focus guiding it to the central one. He channeled his mind blast which visibly flowed into the turret and was amplified as it exited in a barrage of smaller yet powerful blasts that ripped through the atmosphere leaving a wake of distorted trace.

The giant long necked bird creatures dove swiftly and evaded the volley then returned their own round of blasts back towards the ship. “Mari look out!” Greg communicated in the mind space instantly and the ship did a barrel roll to evade, this time with success and not a single laser made contact with the ship. “I’m getting setup in the aft turret, this one has some sort of slide system on it so I can move around the ship… this is impressive engineering!” Jerro communicated to the group in the shared telepathic space, which he was already quite used to from his work as a Builder.

Mari whipped the ship around doing a sort of somersault spin into a reversal of direction and took a drive at the enemy formation. “Jerro, move to the starboard side of the ship” Mari shared as a plan developed in her head.

She drifted the ship with a hard push of the control wheel, exposing the side of the ship to the birds but simultaneously allowing both turrets to open a full attack. Jerro and Greg let off sequential blasts, the first of which was dodged, however Jerro’s volley landed squarely into the formation impacting the central bird. It immediately dropped out of the sky and plummeted towards the jungle canopy.

The other two returned a volley of laser fire that impacted their ship, however the reflexive shielding spun up and absorbed the blasts as a hexagonal shield pattern emanated and subsided from the impact point.

As Mari regained control of the ship, she saw it, out of her peripherals, another formation of three bird creatures descending from the fluffy clouds that dotted the sky. Jerro and Greg were returning fire on the remaining two birds from the first formation when it happened. The new formation let out a volley of laser fire and followed up with a sort of energy ball. It was crackling and snapping as it impacted the reflexive shielding. It froze as it impacted the shielding, but then continued to make slow progress, penetrating the shielding as it fractured and the hexagonal pattern which pulsed and shifted from a light blue to purple then red. As the ball of energy passed through the shielding, it let off a massive crack, like thunder from a lightning strike.

Mari was knocked to her back by the blast, and as she stood to survey the damage a volley of laser fire forced her to take cover behind the control foundation. She could hear the material of the hull splintering in a horrific tearing sound as she avoided the barrage of laser fire.

“Are you guys okay?!” She communicated to the boys in the mind space. “All good up here, except I think we’re heading for the ground…” Greg reported. “Same for me. What's going on? What was that?” Jerro asked. Before Mari could answer, the monotone voice responded “Based on the energy readings, the reflexive shielding was penetrated by a quantum pulsar and the engines are disabled, I would highly recommend bracing for impact in approximately eighteen point four seconds.” The voice began to count down as an auxiliary red light source took over illuminating the interior of the ship.

“Well… I guess that was a quick way to die, love you guys.” Greg said over the mind space. “Hang on guys! We’re not there yet!” Mari shot back.

Mari grabbed Phlip as the ship's free fall accelerated. Greg and Jerro buckled into the turrets and prepared for impact, while Greg’s view became a rapidly approaching array of thick green foliage and Jerro stared into the sky, lightly clouded and watched as the two formations of long necked birds trailed their trajectory.

Mari wrestled the controls, attempting to regain power and control of the ship.

Greg watched, helpless as the ship pierced into the jungle like a knife driving into its target. The curved window on the turret cracked as branches impacted and broke under the ship. The jungle floor came into view as vines snapped and whipped in a chaotic cacophony, followed by a burst of sound so intense it reverberated through the ship and slowly dissipated.

In an instant, it all stopped. Greg’s eyes were closed by now and as he slowly opened them he saw they had yet to hit the ground, but were close enough that he watched a long orange insect with thousands of legs scurry across the jungle floor. This didn’t make sense, the ship was massive and falling at high speed. The ship began reversing, pulling out of the shattered mess of trees and foliage just how it had entered.

As they came to a soft hover above the canopy, they saw it, a figure suspended in the air, the appearance of a large marmot and hind paws floating weightlessly and a long dark cloak lofting in the light breeze. Its eyes glowed a bright purple, a polearm weapon slung on its back and a light yet well fitting armored chest piece graced its torso. Its paw fist clenched as it moved the ship, seemingly with little effort. 

“Are you guys seeing this?” Mari asked telepathically. “Uhhh yeah…” Jerro responded while Greg said nothing, still reeling from his headfirst death dive. Mari, being on the open deck gave a smile and wave towards the creature.

Quickly it gestured with its other hand and projected a powerful mind blast that tore over Mari, less than a tail above her head. She ducked quickly behind the deck railing and watched as the blast impacted one of the large feathered creatures that had been approaching the ship.

Mari peaked her head over the railing and saw that two floating and heavily armored mechanized suits had joined the flanks of this cloaked marmot-like creature. She could only make out some details to assume they were piloted and not autonomous. They hovered via small jets on the extremities and back. The visors lifted and they seemed to be talking with the cloaked figure.

They dropped their visors and each took off in opposing directions while dual cannons deployed over the large armored shoulders. Mari watched as each piloted mech suit aggressed towards the now reduced bird formations. She felt the ship lurch as it began moving again over the jungle.

With a light thud, the ship came to a halt and Mari looked over the edge again to see they had landed safely in a small glade. Foreign sounds filled the air, animals, critters and giant bugs skittered about making their way away from the ship.

The cloaked figure landed on the deck of the ship near Mari. She could make out details now. This was definitely a burrowing rodent of some sort, but its appearance was uncanny, not marmot, gopher or prairie dog but a combination of all, without resembling any distinctly. 

In an warbled and unintelligible language, which echoed into Mari’s mind, it attempted to communicate, but was unsuccessful. It reached up to its temple and attached a small disc like device and rotated it, as if it was tuning a dial. 

“How’s this? Can you hear me now?” the creature said. “Uhhh yes…?” Mari said questioningly.

“Great, sorry for that trouble, I’m Lukyaza, Prince of the Burrowing Rodent Empire and Sovereign Watcher of this sector.

“Nice to meet you, Lukyaza” Mari said with a blush, “I’m Mari Stonepaw… ermm… of The Burrow?” she said with a smile and added “Oh and this is Phlip!” Philip stared off into the jungle, unaware of the life threatening peril that had just transpired.

Greg and Jerro emerged from the access panel that led into the ship's hull.

The two armored mechs landed on the deck, their armor charred from laser impacts, one of them struggling to move an arm that had been disabled. Scratches and scars covered their armor, some fresh, some aged.

Their suits unfurled and smoothly opened from the front as the creatures climbed out, just like Lukyaza, their uncanny appearance was both unsettling and incredibly handsome, as if you were to describe the perfect burrowing rodent.

They began inspecting the damage to their suits as Greg and Jerro approached the group.

Mari noticed a simple black and white crest marking the left breast of each chest piece which was identical to the circumscribed triangles she saw in the cave. 

“Well Lukyaza, Prince of the Burrowing Rodent Empire, where are we?” Mari said with a bit of sass.

Lukyaza looked confused and responded, “What do you mean where are we? This is system three-one-nine, a unitary star system, and we are on the third major celestial body from the central star”