The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 40.2

[Hope]

The next few chaotic moments were lost to Hope, her mind scrambled by the blinding flash of orange, hammering body convulsions, and a sense of falling. She found herself gasping for breath, lying on the stone floor beneath the dais.

Eshe fired at the circling drones with the pulse pistol previously hidden under her dress. Kneeling close, she shielded Hope with her body from one side while the raised dais provided protection from the other. "Are you okay, Hope?" she yelled above the ruckus.

"Damn, that hurt!" Hope replied, groaning. She ripped off the remaining parts of the gown not burned away by the plasma blast, revealing her black tactical suit underneath. It still smoldered at the chest, emitting a pungent odor. "Thanks for making me wear this under my dress."

"Just stay down," Eshe ordered. She took aim and fired, blasting a drone in mid-air with a bright flash. "It won't absorb another blast." At Eshe's insistence, all of Hope's family wore the energy absorbing suits under their white clothing. Eshe tapped a hidden earpiece and yelled out. "Sai, we need you. Take out the drones!"

Gabriel came to Hope's side carrying a pulse pistol. He turned toward Eshe. "Why aren't the defense cannons working?"

"Good question," Eshe spat while shooting down another drone.

Hope realized the implications immediately — there were saboteurs among the estate staff, and they may not know who to trust. Lying on her side, Hope touched a small spot on her prosthetic leg to open a hidden compartment and extract a pulse weapon shaped like a rod. Just as she did, a drone swung around the dais close enough that she could see its red sensor eye. Flashing up the weapon, Hope fired an orange bolt, sending the drone spiraling down into vacated seats in a shower of sparks.

She seethed while coming up on one knee. These things are really pissing me off!

Hope touched her brother's shoulder. "What about Dad and Celeste?"

While firing, blasting a drone out of the air, Gabriel replied, "Celeste took a hit. Dad is helping her."

Hope raised her head to find her father, but Eshe shoved her down just as a plasma bolt blazed overhead. "Stay down, Hope!" she ordered. "They are targeting you."

From her position huddled against the stone dais, the desperate screams of panicked people came to Hope's ears among the buzz of the drones and pops of plasma bolts. Her heart ached for them. With the deadly rain of fire, there would be many casualties. She peeked over the platform edge. Three uniformed security guards with pulse rifles appeared on the upper amphitheater wall and took aim at the circling drones, at least twenty, by Hope's estimate, and more were coming. A plasma bolt struck one guard, sending the man tumbling over the wall.

Firing again from a kneeling position, Gabriel shouted, "There's too many! We can't hold them off for long."

The feeling of dread that rose within Hope dissipated with the familiar roar of thrusters. Sai is here! As another security precaution, Eshe had Sai hold the Firebird Rise ready to respond at a moment's notice. Now she did. The ship's shadow was more than a welcome sight. Hovering beside the amphitheater, countless orange streaks erupted from the point defense cannons, shredding the drones en mass. Eshe, Gabriel, Moon, and the two remaining guards shot any drone that escaped the carnage and ventured nearby.

Eshe stood up and surveyed the scene. She tapped her earpiece, saying, "Sai, those things came out of the sea. Find the source and take it out!"

The Firebird Rise drifted over the sea with the howl of thrusters, hovering back and forth, then settling over one spot. A barrage of orange bolts rained down, piercing the sea surface in frothy splashes. Then something beneath the surface exploded with a deep thump. The column of water lifted by the explosion sprayed out to the sides, diverted by the downward thrust from the starship.

Hope leaped onto the dais, standing upright with her pulse weapon in hand. The scene confirmed her fears. Scores of bodies were strewn about the amphitheater, some huddled and groaning in pain, others silent and unmoving. She dropped to a knee and took up Ali Zahara's hand. Lying on her back, the former Empress Pro Tempore stirred within a pool of her own blood. One arm dangling over the edge of the platform at an unnatural angle, attached to a mangled and blackened shoulder.

Ali gripped Hope's hand. "Rule well, Empress," she said in a weak voice. "But do one thing for me. Get that bastard." Her eyes glazed and her head fell away as Ali took her last breath.

Hope put two fingers to her own lips, then placed them on Ali's forehead, whispering, "So I shall. Be at peace now."

A guard, one of those who fired from the wall, ran up to Hope. "Empress, are you all right?" He tapped on his own temple, implying a corresponding injury.

Hope's fingertips came up red as she touched her own head. "I am well enough. Get emergency medical teams here for these people."

"Yes, Empress." He stood, then barked orders into a wrist communicator.

"Dad! Celeste!" Hope shouted. Spinning around, she sighted her parents, then leaped from the dais and ran to them between a row of seats. Moon carried Celeste, draping her across his arms with a pulse pistol in one hand. Hope stopped short as she noticed the singed shreds of Celeste's gown falling away from the protective black suit underneath. "Celeste, are you..."

"I'll be okay," Celeste responded. She narrowed her eyes at Moon. "You can put me down now."

"Oh, no!" Moon shook his head. "I'm not letting you go... ever."

Celeste began to protest further, but Hope rushed in to hug them both with outstretch arms. Moon relented, letting Celeste down and wrapping both women in his arms.

Hope broke from the hug while wiping tears from her eyes. Her face hardened, and she drew down her eyebrows. "Time we ended this!" She turned. "Eshe, bring the Firebird Rise in and gather what guards you trust."

"What are you planning?" Eshe asked.

Gabriel helped Gael Brosse stand. She wavered, putting a hand to her head, and might have fallen if not for Gabriel's supporting arm. Instead of answering Eshe's question, Hope asked her lead lawyer, "Ms. Brosse, what are the legal ramifications of kicking Diego's arse?"

Gael narrowed her eyes. "Under the present circumstances, I would say completely justified."

Turning back to Eshe, Hope said, "We go on the offensive, before he slips away. The time has come to take him down, once and for all!"