Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

Vahal Fort: Fourth part.


***

"You're not relaxing." The computer voice startled the general.

"What?" Freeman felt a bit guilty. "What are you talking about, of course I'm relaxing."

The feminine voice sounded scornful, like a mother disciplining her child.

"Adam, I have sensors monitoring every cell of your body. If I tell you you're not relaxing, I really mean it. You can lie to yourself all day, but you can't lie to me. Now, stop trying to impress me and relax. We need your mind to be cleared to do this. Leave all that useless anger outside and breathe deeply."

Freeman frowned.

"It's easy for you to say that. My whole ship is being torn apart and my crew is about to die."

The voice spoke again, it sounded warmer and more caring.

"You're ship is fine Adam. It's a good ship and a good crew. Trust them, like they trust you."

Freeman felt a bit easier. Somehow, he felt it… she would not lie to him. He felt like he was slowly falling asleep but his mind was still rather alert. He had a hard time focusing on his physical body. The surrounding temperature felt warmer than before but his body was numb. He felt wave after wave of heat and energy against his body as if he was stripped of all barriers, physical and mental. He felt the heat caress his limbs and ease his anxiety.

"Slowly, feel my touch, let your conscious self be void of all worries, free your mind, do not think, rest your soul. Do not try to use the grantz technique, it will not work. Just let the light it creates flow through you and into me. Let me drink your light and let the whole world see it for what it is, this is how you named your ship after all, let your grantz light be glorious and free."


***

"21 seconds sir. Still no power on the Grantz cannon. Orders?" The lieutenant was tense, the battle was going from bad to worse.

"Any response from fleet ships?" Asked Serra.

"Yes sir, the D.S.S. Mirror and her nova wings will be here in twelve to fourteen minutes."

Serra pondered for a mere second before asking. "What about the Aeroprism and the others?"

The lieutenant consulted her console. "The Aeroprism has taken too much damage and is unable to move or fire. She is also targeted by the Preator. The other three Nova ships are being blocked by the second pirate ship, they cannot pass the fire line without being destroyed, they therefore cannot help us."

Serra tried to conjure up an answer but none came.

"Prepare to abandon ship. The first blast will most likely be dimmed by what remains of the Aeroprism's shields, that may push us away far enough to force them to retarget and give us a few more seconds to evacuate as many as we can. Target all escape pods towards Mota. Wait until they fire to give the order, we need to survive the first blast and for that I need my officers at their post. Until then, brace yourselves, may the light help us all."


***

Luna was anxiously pacing in the cannon room.

"Almost twelve minutes now. HEY YOU! Are you SURE he's in there?"

The technician looked at her, trembling and intimidated.

"Yes ma'am, I already told you, he stepped in five minutes before you arrived. Here, look! The technician handed her a datapad. You can monitor his vital signs. We've been doing so ever since he entered, like his heart condition and… oh, hell.

"WHAT?" Luna yelled at the poor man.

"His vital signs are dropping, fast!

Rune's eyes widened as she darted towards the console to see. She did not need long to interpret what she saw.

"His body is shutting down! He's dying! ADAM!!"


***


Freeman felt light, as if his body and his soul were parting from each other. For a second, he thought he heard the voice speak to him again but he didn't quite make out what it said. It wasn't important anyways. He simply felt… good.

He was gradually becoming aware of his whole self, what he was, who he was meant to be, he was in perfect communion with the whole universe. For what seemed an eternity, he felt deep and complete joy through all his being. And then, in what culminated as an ascending feeling of well being, he was struck by a powerful and complete orgasm; both physical, mental and spiritual.

For a second, he felt the embrace of perfection.

The feminine voice came to him again, but he didn't hear, or care.

"Life signs dropping, blood pressure down 23%, heart going into arrest, brain functions critical. Starting emergency procedures, injecting adrenaline and trimatein. Stand by."


***

The lieutenant tried her best to keep her composure but her fear was now transparent. "Sir… Four seconds, their weapons are ready to fire."

Serra gave a sorry look to his lieutenant and his crew, unable to speak.

He closed his eyes, thinking about his family on Mota, silently preparing to pass into the next world when his lieutenant suddenly yelled:

"Sir!! Grantz cannon charging! Fully charged! FIRING!!"

Serra opened his eyes and looked at the monitor; he did not see the enemy ship any longer.

All he saw was light.

"Make history in hell."


***

For a second, the raging space battle stopped. Then, the flasghip known as the D.S.S. Glorious Light lived up to its name. The focusing point at the foremost part of the vessel glew angrily, putting the brightest stars of the galaxy to shame. Then, in a single moment of holy rage, a bright yellowish-white beam of light blasted towards the Preator.

It was very brief, a flash of light, there and gone, followed by a second of uneasy silence. Then it came, a series of violent explosions coming from inside the Preator, engulfed in flames, it spontaneously burned, exploding in a violent cacophony of destruction.

The crew was utterly shocked. It all happened very, very fast. The navigator regained her wits and remembered the shockwave caused by the Nemesis' explosion, a ship much smaller than the Preator; a shockwave that had almost destroyed them.

"Sir, computers evaluate a shockwave about a hundred times larger than the one that hit us before. Can the Aeroprism's shields protect us from that much kinetic energy?" Asked the lieutenant, still shocked out of her wits.

"It will not be necessary, lieutenant. The grantz beam creates a forward vacuum. See for yourself; the debris and the energy wave are being pushed away from us."

The younger officer took a few seconds to recollect. "Sir, the other pirate ship is moving away. What do we do?"

Serra checked his monitors before answering. "We can't do much now lieutenant. Signal the D.S.S. Mirror to pursue and destroy. Signal the other ships here to protect us; we're in no shape to continue this battle. I'll be in the cannon room."

"Yes sir!"

Serra was almost off the bridge when the Navigator spoke again.

"Sir, scanners detect that prior to the Preator's destruction, a large amount of crew member teleported directly into Vahal Fort."

For a second, Serra had completely forgotten about the fort.

"Signal Colonel Ryan and the troops on ground. They will need reinforcements.

***