Heritage (Under Revision)

Chapter 29: Ethan

Damien and I walk quietly through the halls, walking in a casual fashion but keeping our steps silent so that we’re not heard regardless. As I walk along, I take deep breathes and try to clear my mind of all distractions.

“Chill out, Ethan, it’s not like we haven’t done this before,” Damien says to me.

“I’m fine, Damien, I’m just clearing my head,” I respond.

“Well, before you do that, let me fill it with something.”

“What’s that?” I ask with a questioning look on my face.

“What do you think of molecular reconstruction?”

“Hmm...I haven’t looked much into it but I know the experiments were ceased after the war with the Korlons...why do you ask?”

“Before I tell you, I’m gonna have to explain what led me to that question.”

Alright Damien, shoot.

“I’ve been having a lot of dreams about Dante lately...a lot of very strong dreams. And in the dreams, I saw this device...it’s the Molecular Particle Re-Animator.”

“I was never informed of a device like that, what’s it do?” I ask quizzically.

“This device has been buried for years under the archives. You’ll know why when I tell you what it does. This device is amazing, nearly impossible to fathom it exists. It can completely reanimate molecular particles that almost don’t exist, all you need is a piece of clothing or less. It can also re-open wormholes and reconstruct what’s inside of them. How scientists managed to construct this is beyond me, but there’s only one in existence.”

“How in the hell did they manage to make that during the war? There’s no way there was enough time,” I say dumbfounded.

“That’s the thing, they didn’t finish until the Korlon war. They started researching the technology just after World War Three. The difference between those two wars are two-hundred and fifty years, Ethan.”

“How in the world did they keep the funds up to keep the project going for that long until it was complete?”

“Apparently the Order of Allied Planets wanted it to keep going after it was established. In th-- hold on,” Damien says, as we hide behind a corner as a herd of Sekrid feet stomp the floor. A few minutes pass and we continue on our way.

“Must be a shift change,” I say.

“Most likely. Anyway, as I was saying, in the records I found in the archives, there’s a section that’s almost completely black marked. There’s something they were after, something this galaxy has never seen before that they need the device for. That’s all I could gather from what few words that weren’t blacked out.”

“Alright, so what does this have to do with Dante?” I question, puzzled.

“Ethan, I have a strong feeling that Dante is still alive in that wormhole, he’s just...separated into particles. What if he didn’t die when he pulled his pins? We were too far away to tell; all we saw was the blast. All time stops when in a wormhole, we could possibly get him out of there, Ethan, and bring him back.”

“Yeah but, how are we supposed to get a hold of this device?”

“Well, my initial plan was to steal it, but then as I read the records, it was recorded that the device was attacked and crash landed on planet Rayalis. I have the general coordinates, we just have to find it,” Damien says, finishing his explanation.

“Wait...it’s on the planet below us? No, no, that’s too much coincidence. That has to be one of the reasons why the Sekrid are here. There’s no way Rin’Gal would be leading this mission unless it was of utmost importance.”

“Exactly. The ship I was on knew about the device, and they were coming to tell you so we could pull a joint-Op to find it. Who do you think contacted you to watch out for that Sekrid ship?”

“You’re right. Could we really accomplish this though, Damien, can we really get Dante back?”

“If it’s a possible method, then yes, I do. We’re going to need to talk about this later though, we’re here,” Damien says, ending the conversation.

I take my vision off of him and nod my head in agreement, my face turning to an expression of seriousness. Damien and I creep to a corner and peer around it.

“Damien turns to me, Alright, two at both ends of the door and two more opposite of them. There’s also another two running a sentry route down the hall,” he says to me in a whisper.

“Got it. Take the first four at the door out by hand, then the other two with silencers, sound good?” I plan, in an equally low whisper.

Damien nods his head in agreement and counts to three on his fingers. As his fingers reach one, we slowly walk around the corner and pick up into a quiet jog, then move to a fast sprint as we reach five feet from the enemy. The first two Sekrid on each side quickly look at us, but before they’re able to say a word, Damien plunges his combat knife under the jaw of the commando on his side, pinning its mouth closed and causing the blade to enter the creatures brain, killing him instantly.

While on my side I grab the Sekrid’s neck, swing onto his back and press my feet into his spine while pulling on his neck, snapping both his spine and neck. He drops to the floor like a rock.

Before both soldiers can hit the ground Damien and I are immediately on the other two. This time, Damien slashes the Sekrid soldiers throat and then plunges the blade into his chest, ensuring that he’s dead, whilst I use my studded combat gloves on my hands to hit the commando in the throat.

The impact is strong enough to crush his trachea and prevent him from letting out any screams and I finish him with a stomp to the head, crushing his skull.

Before the two Sekrid down the hall can turn around, Damien and I pull out our pistols, switch them to silent and pull the trigger, both of us putting two shots into their backs and one in the back of their heads. They drop to the floor instantly, letting out no screams of pain.

Damien and I position ourselves on both sides of the door, breathing heavily and sweating, both from the physical exertion we performed and also due to the adrenaline pumping through our veins, keeping us on our toes.

We look at each other and I nod my head, Damien nods his in return and I stand in front of the door, planting my foot into the center of it as hard as I can and knocking it off the hinges. The metal door hits one of the Sekrid, knocking him to the floor.

I enter the room and Damien follows behind. We open fire with our automatic weapons, spraying the room with holes, causing the room to fill with dust. The Sekrid dodge every which way to avoid the fire. Damien and I take cover behind a monitoring console and reload our weapons.

“You honor hounding bastards! Why can’t you just die!?” a familiar voice sounds from across the room.

“Why would we do that, Rin’Gal?! You’re too much fun to fuck with!” Damien screams back.

“I’ll kill you both!” Rin’Gal screams as he stands, unloading a clip into the console Damien and I are behind.

We duck our heads, making sure that any rounds that penetrate through the console won’t hit us. Damien and I blind-fire over the console back, suppressing him and whatever other soldiers are firing at us.

The gunfire goes on for nearly ten minutes, only stopping to reload. We all expend the last of our ammo, our gun barrels red-hot from all the fire.

“You’re out boys!” Rin’Gal screams once more.

“So are you!” I yell back myself. Damien unexpectedly stands up from his position.

“How about you get up and fight like a real man!” He yells out in a challenge.

I stand up myself just as Rin’Gal does. He stands across the room from us, bearing his razor-sharp teeth at us and the rest of the Sekrid do so themselves, all of them bearing knives.

Damien draws two knives of his own and hands one to me. I take it and we both step around the console to the middle of the room. Rin’Gal and his men do the same as Rin’Gal’s fierce glare turns into a smirk.

“Hm...five to two, looks like you’re a bit outnumbered.”

I see Damien give a smile out of my peripheral vision.

“What’s so funny?” Rin’Gal asks.

“You’re all fuckin’ dead,” Damien says quietly, before lunging at the two soldiers in front of him. He clotheslines one with his forearm and stabs the other dead on in the throat, spraying blood out onto Damien’s arm and face.

The other two Sekrid attack me in reaction of Damien’s. I duck under their swings and spin myself around into a crouching position, then sweeping my knife across the legs of the Sekrid commandos, cutting the tendons behind their knees.

They fall to the floor in agony and I stab one of them in the forehead and leave the other to scream in pain, unable to move his legs. I stand and face Rin’Gal, his unique neon-green eyes piercing into mine as he growls at me.

I glance in the background and see Damien wrestling with his own Sekrid, then return my focused vision on Rin’Gal. I clench my fist and tighten my grip on the knife, both of us staring each other down.

My adrenaline is pumping so hard it seems as if time is moving slower, and in an instant, Rin’Gal and I throw ourselves at each other. We each grab the other’s hand that contains the knife and begin to wrestle around the room, slamming each other against various objects.

To avoid the stalemate we’re in, we both decide to drop our knives and continue fighting with bare hands and feet. We exchange blows for a minute or two. I throw a fist at him and he swiftly grabs it and flips me on a console, shattering the monitors and sending sparks flying. He plants an elbow into my chest, knocking the wind out of me.

He throws another fist at my face; I dodge out of the way and his fist collides with the console. He screeches in pain and steps back. I jump over the console and kick him in the chest, knocking him to the floor, then jump into the air and aim my foot towards his face, to place a powerful stomp into his skull.

He dodges himself, and as I land, I feel a sharp, searing pain enter the back of my shoulder. I fall to the floor and reach into my back, pulling out a piece of metal that had broken off one of the consoles. As I begin to stand, I hear a clicking sound. I stop what I’m doing and continue at a slower pace, meeting Rin’Gal’s face and seeing him smiling, holding a pistol in his hands.

“You’re empty, you may as well drop the pistol,” I say, wiping a streak of blood from my mouth.

“Not exactly, it has one round.”

“You sure you’re that good?”

“Hmpf, I don’t need to be at this range, and you know it.”

I start to see his finger pull back on the trigger and I close my eyes, anticipating the shot but...there’s a faint sound of a knife swipe, and no gunshot.

I open my eyes to see Rin’Gal screeching in pain and holding his wrist, which now is handless and seeping with blood. I look to the left and see Leon standing there, holding a knife in his hands, with a vicious look on his face. Leon then proceeds to plant a roundhouse kick into Rin’Gal’s face, knocking him into a console. Rin’Gal simply goes limp and hangs over the console, lifeless.

My eyes return to Leon, and behind him I see Stella and Elena, standing at the door. I can only help but smile, my son had just saved my life.

He looks just like me at this moment, his eyes filled with a warrior’s soul, his face as fierce as that of a predator hunting its prey. He’s breathing heavily, adrenaline running through him and he stands there still, like a statue.

I slowly walk to him and place my hand on the knife that he’s holding up. His vision quickly shifts to me, and his face softens. I give Leon a small smile and nod to him, silently saying It’s alright now.

Leon drops the knife and hugs me.

“I thought he was going to kill you, Dad. I did what my instincts told me.”

“That’s good son, your thoughts were right.”

My thoughts hesitate as I hear Damien finish off his opponent with a snapping of the neck. He walks over to us shaking his head.

“Always the defiant ones,” he says, glancing at Stella, Elena, and Leon. I release Leon from the hug and look him in the eyes.

“You did good son, I wouldn’t be standing here if you hadn’t done that, I guess we’re even now huh?” I say smirking.

“Yeah Dad, we’re even,” Leon responds.

“What do you say we get off this ship now?” I say to Damien, signaling him to get on the com.

“Got it, let’s get out of here...” Damien says, dialing in the coordinates.

We’re finally getting out of here...