Chapter Ninety Three - Destruction

The Sabine did not wander too far from the flight path of the megalith, which seemed to be on course for the home world of the Imperial Family, Cherok, so were able to witness the one sided battle first hand. Jezmi had coaxed twelve ships in all to help her with her scheme and now three ships were utterly destroyed before they could even understand what they were facing. Other ships blasted it with lasers and missiles, trying to cause great damage before it reformed, but their efforts came to nought.

Finally one of the science officers aboard a sister ship noticed that the megalith, the debris ring and its projectiles all appeared to be made up of the same materials, something that could apparently reform at will. The first assumption was some kind of liquid metal, but with the sacrifice of the fifth ship, who managed to send a brief message just seconds before they were destroyed. The thing was made up of what looked like small metal beetle like things. "Nanochips?" Suggested one officer.

"Isn't that science fiction?" Another claimed.

"I don't care what it is!" Yelled their superior. "Someone get this to head quarters, I can't see us getting out of here in one piece!"

As their weapons failed to stop or even slow it, it was Jezmi who suggested they try a last resort. Kamikaze.

"You are fucking crazy, woman!" The Captain of a sister ship replied.

"Crazy or not, got a better idea?" Came the commander of a ship, whose bridge had been taken out, losing their Captain in the process. In an engine room that was failing, the man sent his crew to the escape pods while he set a short count down. But the ship was in dire straights and would be destroyed before it got to zero, so the man made the decision to blow it there and then, knowing there would be few who escaped.

The blast range was not close to the mass, but did some damage to what it reached. The chips seemed to float dormant, unable to return to the main mass. Jezmi began to order her people to the escape pods as did a couple of other captains while the few remaining ships desperately continued to attack it futilely, still hoping they could get out of this mostly unscathed. The three suicide ships set coordinates and similar countdowns. Jezmi was the last to leave the bridge.

One by one the ships were destroyed; eaten by the nanochips until only non-metallic matter remained, floating dead in space. Escape pods jettisoned, though they held little hope of being rescued. The three ships were set upon by the nanochips. As they reached the mass, one was destroyed before the counter reached zero, the other two were absorbed into it, the chips eating through shielding and walls. The explosion of the two ships embedded in it was not small. The mass was stopped, the chips spread out in the explosion or disintegrated. Some of the lifepods were caught in the blast and destroyed.

In the end, it took all twelve warships to stop the mass from across the border. In total, nearly forty ships had been destroyed, including the border ships and a couple of merchant ships that just happened to be in the way.

The Sabine was a Pirate, not one to stick their necks out, but not to bothered about robbing the graveyard either. They carefully entered the flotsam remaining from battle. There was not a lot left, certainly nothing worth pillaging.

The bridge crew were slightly pale, they'd been in battles before, but nothing so destructive. "C-Captain," Song eventually spoke as she helped her hubby pilot the ship around. "Should we pick up the survivors?"

This, they wouldn't normally bother with either, though they might if they thought they could get a ransom. And the military would be here soon so...

"Yeah, let's see if she lived," he said, finally and they moved to where the S.O.S signals could be heard over the comms.

"Wait!" Luck said suddenly, looking suddenly distressed. Law quickly picked up on his feelings and began to heave, his stomach churning.

The crew appeared startled. "What's wrong?" The Captain asked.

"Don't pick them up, don't take them in!" Luck clutched his temples and began to shake, Law followed suit.

"They are not.. not real anymore," Law attempted to explain. Law had never felt that he and Luck were very sensitive about things when it came to psionics, they actually thought that theirs was weak. But in fact, they had just become too used to sensing the stream of life around them to the point where they would only notice it when it was gone. It was not gone, strictly, Law felt when he looked at the escape pods, but it certainly felt warped, causing the sick feeling they both now suffered.

"Destroy them," Luck ordered, causing everyone to look at him. He'd never spoken so vehemently in all his sixteen years. The crew looked at the Captain for a moment, who stared at the boy.

"Do it," the Captain decided. His gunner blasted the pods one by one, before they moved to another location with more pods. Luck asked for these to also be destroyed, so the clean up continued.

"Wait!" Law said. "That one is fine and the person inside is alive." Luck nodded.

They found five intact pods with living people, one of which was Aunt Jezmi, whose pod had been flung with the blast to a point well away from the worst of the debris. They were just about to leave, when Law felt a sudden fluctuation in his heart.

"There's one more," he said and pointed in the direction he sensed it.

Luck frowned. "It feels strange," he protested.

"No, Luck, look harder," Law urged excitedly. Luck's eyes widened.

How? When? Luck blurted inwardly.

I don't know, but... Law replied.

"Are you sure, boys," the Captain asked as the pod came into view. It was not like a usual lifepod, in fact it looked like it was of the same as the weird mass.

"Please," Law begged. The Captain shrugged and indicated that they should pull this one on board as well, before he gave control of the bridge to Sly. The first mate ordered that they leave immediately.

The Captain took large strides to the cargo bay, requesting the Doc meet them there. The two boys followed as did a number of his raiding team, each withdrawing their weapons as they approached the six pods. They overrode the codes on the military pods releasing the few surviving personnel, who were quick to notice their situation.

"Fuck me!" Was all Jezmi could say about it.

The Captain grinned, widely. "Later, doll," he said with a leer, before shaking his head. "You are one lucky bitch, you know that!"

Jezmi glanced around her, her face paling when she saw only four other survivors, all men and none from her ship. "Is this it? Is this all who survived that?! Surely others escaped in their pods!"

The Captain avoided answering, instead saying; "Well, there is that..." he indicated the strange black pod made of kite shapes with no glass window to reveal its occupant and no apparent controls to open it.

"Are you nuts?" She demanded, becoming even whiter as she looked at it. "That's made of those same things that destroyed all of our ships! You've signed our death warrant bringing that on board."

"Actually, it was the boys..." before he could finish his sentence, Jezmi shoved him to one side and wrapped the twins into her embrace. They noted that they were slightly taller than she was, but they could not escape the death grip.

"You're safe! That's good!" She sighed, releasing them, only to grasp their hands. Tears began to leak from her eyes. "That's good, now we can go home, together." The Captain rolled his eyes at her one track mind.

"Excuse me?" A rescued ensign nervously spoke. "What's going to happen to us?"

The Captain waved his hand in a dismissively gesture. "We'll drop you off somewhere that the military can grab you from."

"You can take us to Havert3," Jezmi demanded, before returning her attention to the boys. "That's where your grandmother and grandfather, my parents, live."

"Dammit woman," the Captain grumbled, "I ain't on your fucking payroll."

They glared at each other for a moment, before the Doc entered with Sly in tow. He glanced over the new additions. "I heard there was a need for me," he said in cold tones. "But they seem lively enough, so may I return to the medical bay? I was in the middle of watching Solar Battles Episode 19, Unbalancing the Balance."

Jezmi glanced at Captain Maerlon, with a conflicted expression on her face. There had just been an epic life and death battle with an alien megalith and this man was watching a movie? The Captain gave a slight shrug, before giving his permission.

"What about this?" Sly tapped on the black pod. It rapidly separated into numerous nanochips, all falling to the floor like dominoes. All of the men and women in the cargo bay stepped back quickly, but the chips made no other movement. As they glared at Sly, who looked back with questioning eyes, Law stepped forward, slipping from Jezmi's reach. Previously hidden in the pod of chips, was a sleeping man. He gave off a slightly similar psychic scent like those in the pods they had destroyed and yet it was also very different. He was a slightly built man and appeared to be in his early twenties. He was plain of face, with dark skin and tight curled hair, but he made Law's heart beat faster.

Jezmi tried to grab her nephew back, but his twin stopped her and smiled. "It's alright." How was it alright? She wondered. If that man was in the monolith, his people tried... managed to annihilate is!

Law knelt down and touched the man's face. It was warm to the touch. His eyes suddenly opened, but they were not dark, like his appearance suggested, they were pale and very familiar. The man held Law's hand against his cheek. "Hello, husband," he whispered softly.

"Hey to you too," Law replied gently.