The Plasma Storm

By Brian Rushton

As the Anacron Empire fights for its existence against the Vortak invasion, Dark Viper prepares to complete his plan to seize control of a power that has lain dormant for centuries. And while those who oppose him finally learn of his designs, they also find that combating him may require more of a sacrifice than they had ever prepared for.

Of course, they're going after him regardless. But a lot of stuff is going to get blown up in the process.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian Rushton
• Release date: Nov 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310336768

Brian Rushton

I'm a software engineer and a pretty dang good husband and dad. I graduated from the University of Washington and have lived pretty much my whole life in Washington state, except for two years in the Oriental Republic of Uruguay on a church mission. I still pronounce the "LL" in "tortilla" like an "SH".I love Mega Man and Metroid, and I have beaten Gradius and Contra without cheating. When pressed to compare Star Trek and Star Wars, I say that best of Star Trek is better than the best of Star Wars, although the average coolness:time ratio might be higher in Star Wars, at least for the original trilogy.I don't really think of myself as an author - I'm definitely keeping my day job. But with all those sci-fi ideas bouncing around in my head, eventually enough of them coalesced that I could form a story. I'm glad they did, because I actually have a hard time finding sci-fi books that I like. (If I can't share it with my kids, I probably won't like it either.) And I'm even more happy that a quadruple-digit number of other people have shared it. I guess nothing brings people together like saving the galaxy with cool powers and cool tech!http://BrianRushton.blogspot.com

Book preview

Prologue

The sun was bright overhead as Valin made his way through the market square, but neither the warmth of the day nor the pleasant murmur of voices around him managed to penetrate the troubled look on his face. He kept his hands in his pockets as he carefully avoided a kiosk where a very excited young woman was selling flowers; he was in no mood for that kind of exuberance today. The Vortak had struck again.

Not here, of course. The target had been a distant world, full of aliens, people Valin had never even heard of before. But nobody was going to hear of them after today, because apparently there had been no survivors. Some said the whole planet was gone. It was hard to focus on homework after news like that. His half-written essay on biological inversion fields or his transwarp teleportation lab assignment seemed a bit petty when millions of people somewhere had just lost their lives to a group of renegade soldiers.

And that was all assuming that they really were renegades. Some rumors said that the Vortak were actually following orders, that the Darklings had found a way to seize control of the imperial defense reserves. Then again, others said that the imperial council had been the one to destroy that planet, just to kill whoever had been behind the rebellion. How could the Vortak alone have done all that damage in a single day?

Valin did not have any answers, but he did know that every adult of any real rank he passed seemed to be hiding similar apprehension. Even Professor Gruben had been avoiding eye contact lately, hurriedly pointing Valin to some assistant every time he showed up at the professor’s office to ask a question. There was definitely something going on.

Still, even worried students had to eat, so Valin forced himself to focus on the shops around him. It was a little daunting to live near such a large market; no matter what he picked, Valin always left with a nagging feeling that there was something even better one level up or a few lanes over. He spotted a burger stand that looked promising, above him on the second level, with not too many people waiting in line. There was a lift pad nearby between a pair of flowery bushes, and Valin headed over to it. At a touch from the power he sent into the pad, the stone section lifted into the air, trailing faint sparkles, and deposited him on the level above. Valin got in line and started eyeing the menu.

Most of the items it listed had ludicrous meat-to-bread ratios, and Valin had to wonder why anyone would purposefully order something that would not fit straight into their mouth. When he reached the front of the line, he picked something sensible and then watched as the guy at the counter waved his hand dramatically, conjuring a meal into existence as light seeped out of the air and solidified on the tray in front of him. Valin paid him, took the food, and went looking for a table.

Hey there!

Valin turned to see a bright-eyed girl with braided pigtails alone at a two-seated table. She was eating some kind of sauce-covered meat wrapped in thin bread. It looked delicious. The girl waved Valin over, and he sat down. You’re in my philosophy class, right?

Hm hm. Selori. She held up her hand, palm outward, and Valin returned the greeting by pressing his palm to hers. How are you doing on your essay?

Fine, I guess. It’s not really my thing.

Selori leaned forward with a conspiring look. Have you heard?"

About what?

About what the professors are doing. I’ve heard they’re all going to these secret meetings at night, after the buildings are closed.

What kind of meetings?

She leaned even closer and lowered her voice to a whisper. "No one knows. That’s what’s so interesting!" Then she leaned back in her chair and giggled. Valin was not sure what to make of her, but her mood was contagious, and he was content to fill up the rest of the meal with small talk. It was a nice distraction from this morning’s news. And the burger turned out to be pretty good after all.

In fact, Valin all but forgot about his earlier concern as the day went past. The frantic note taking and mental strain as he struggled to understand the concepts of advanced neural energy fields took up all of his attention. He was already thinking about dinner when Professor Gruben’s lecture ended and everyone started moving toward the doors and teleporters.

Valin?

For the second time that day, Valin turned at an unexpected greeting. The professor was standing by the rear door, to which he gestured with his head. Feeling a little nervous, Valin complied with the unspoken request and followed Gruben through the door and into the office beyond.

Take a seat. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.

Gruben looked more serious than Valin had ever seen him. They sat down in the office, and Valin waited apprehensively for the professor to speak.

You have heard about… the attacks?

You mean the Vortak? Yeah, a little.

Gruben nodded solemnly, as if Valin had said something profound. There have been many. More than have been reported. To avoid panic, you see.

It was troubling news, but Valin just waited.

Now Professor Gruben fixed him with a very serious stare, evidently decided on pursing the conversation. "To tell the truth, the council is not hopeful of the outcome. Not hopeful at all. Half its members have been assassinated. And the Darklings are gaining power. There are some of us who doubt that any of us will survive."

Valin gulped. "Any of who? People on this planet?"

"People anywhere. Or at least, the Enlightened. There are weapons being deployed to target the Darklings’ genetic lines, to poison their power reserves. But it’s all going too slowly. It’s the Shadow Masters, you see. We can’t track them. There could be one in this room right now, and we’d have no way of knowing."

It was certainly a chilling thought, but Valin still could not see how that was relevant to him.

Here’s the thing, Gruben said, leaning forward. "Some of us – the professors here, and other Enlightened – we’re trying to think long-term. I mean, suppose this rebellion does turn into a war. Suppose the worst happens – that civilization is wiped out. No seriously, think about it. What happens when you can’t see your enemy? What happens when planets are destroyed before anybody even knows what happened? Can you honestly not imagine a cataclysmic outcome?"

Valin shook his head. It still sounded crazy, but the professor had to have some reason for worrying, didn’t he? I guess it could happen. But what does that have to do with me?

Gruben coughed and looked over his shoulder as if he was worried about being overheard. I didn’t want to say anything. I told them it’s too early. But… they’re looking for a group of people. A… team, let’s say. To protect what’s left, if the Darklings really do win.

I’m sorry, but I’m just not following you at all.

The old man let out a long breath. I can’t say too much now. I just need to know if you’re interested in the general idea. Not right away, mind you. It’s just that, you know, you don’t really have family, and it’s not like missing school would matter in that event anyway.

Valin was about to stand up and make an excuse about needing to get back to his room when Gruben abruptly slammed his fist down onto the table. But any anger behind it was apparently turned inward; the professor’s face was twisted in a guilty but determined expression. I asked you here to see if you’d be willing to leave this all behind and join us if things do get bad. It would be permanent – you’d never be able to come back to this. But you could do a lot to preserve what we have here. The power. We could outlive the Darklings if we could just get enough people beyond their reach. But we’d need someone to stay behind and make sure everything’s safe when it’s all over. They say I’m too old for this, but you – I think you could do it. If you want to. I can see you’re confused, and I’m sorry I can’t say more. But please think about it. Just know that there’s a place for you if this all falls apart.

Valin was quite relieved to finally be out of that office and back to his normal life. As troubling as the news of the Vortak rebellion was, there were plenty of other, more urgent matters for a student like Valin to worry about. And to be honest, he had kind of resented the insinuation that he had nothing important to hold onto just because he was an orphan. He missed his parents deeply, but he had done well enough at building a life for himself on his own.

He thought less and less about Gruben’s odd proposal as the weeks and months passed, and the professor did not bring it up again. But he did remain visibly preoccupied, and there were more news reports of colonies and even worlds wiped out by Darkling attacks. It soon became very clear that the empire was at war, even though no one really seemed to understand who the enemy was. Still, Valin’s life was busy, and whatever the Darklings’ targets were, they all seemed to be far away, because in spite of the news, everything continued as normal.

Things were still normal when Valin found himself walking through the halls of the neurostudies building one day after a long stretch of lab work with his group. He was still poking at his datapad as he walked, mentally going over his work to make sure he had not missed anything. He did not even look up when Neleg, one of the teaching assistants, came running out of a doorway up ahead. But the words he spoke drew Valin’s attention immediately.

You’ll never find him, you filth! Just get out of here!

Valin looked up in time to see a black-clad man he did not recognize follow Neleg out of the room. His fists were clenched, and his face was twisted in a look of barely-concealed rage.

You sounded the alarm, didn’t you.

Neleg turned and looked down the hall at Valin with a panicked look. When he turned back to the stranger, there was an orange glow gathering around his hand. Yes, he admitted finally. There’s no way out.

Good, the other man said with a sneer. Then there’s no need to run. He took a step forward, but Neleg had already brought up his hand. Orange light exploded forward, closing the short distance in the blink of an eye. But the stranger had already raised his hand, and a dark energy field appeared around his forearm, swallowing up the orange light. Almost in the same movement, the man lunged forward, and before Valin knew what had happened, Neleg was pinned to the far wall by a long blade sticking through his stomach.

Through all of this, Valin had just stood there, rooted in shock, but now the horror of what he had just seen was overriding his surprise. When the stranger turned his gaze on Valin, he knew he should run. He knew there were people to handle this sort of thing. He knew that he had no more battle training than Neleg. But somehow, he could not move. This man before him was evil. He had to be stopped. Almost without realizing it, Valin brought up his hand.

The stranger was not intimidated. He began to stride quickly toward Valin, and presumably to the building’s exterior doors beyond. He carried no visible weapons, but none had been visible before either, and the man’s glare was murderous. Valin’s heart was racing as he attacked.

Although Valin had never used his power as a weapon, the swirling green fire that erupted from his hand flew straight toward his target, and the man had to jump to the side to avoid being hit. Valin adjusted his aim, but again the stranger blocked the attack with an aura of darkness and continued forward. He was just seconds away, but Valin did not dare turn his back on the man at this point. Instead, he brought up his other hand and sent forth the power in a broad wave, filling the hallway between them with green fire. The stranger slowed and swatted at the flames, grunting in rage. But then blackness gathered all around him, and he was advancing again. Valin backed up, but he kept the power flowing. The man was right in front of him.

Then there was the quick pulse of weapons fire, and the man dropped to the ground. Behind him, Valin saw a pair of armored security guards who had appeared farther down the hallway, their weapons still raised. Suddenly Valin felt very weak.

One of the guards hurried forward while the other turned to look cautiously into the doorway that Neleg and the stranger had emerged from.

Are there any more of them?

Valin almost forgot to respond, his mind was so lost in the impossibility of what had just happened. No, he said finally. His eyes drifted over to where Neleg had fallen.

He’s dead, the guard said, as if that were not immediately obvious. You’re just lucky we got here in time. Most of us were sent to investigate the explosion.

"Wait, the what?"

In the admin offices, not ten minutes ago. Someone snuck a bomb in there somehow.

Oh goodness, was anyone-

"Hundreds of people, son. The man’s helmet obscured his face, but his voice was solemn. There was a symposium tonight. But who knows – maybe that was just a distraction from something even bigger."

This was just getting worse. Valin needed to get out of there. He was still trying to decide whether he wanted to ask for more information when the other guard reappeared in the hallway. I’ve just called for backup. You might want to come look at this.

Valin went straight to bed after that, but every time he nodded off he was plagued with nightmares, and sunrise found him feeling more exhausted than ever. And the world outside his room did nothing to comfort him. Everyone was talking about the attacks; Valin could not even get a meal without overhearing stories, people lamenting friends and siblings who had been killed. In the end, he gave up trying to get back to normal life and checked the school network for the list of casualties. The school president was among them, as were a couple of his professors. He recognized a few of the students’ names as well. Then he noticed one that made his breath catch in his throat, for some reason striking him as even more horrific than the others. It was Selori. Valin had hardly known her, but all of a sudden the memory of that meal they had shared came rushing back. She had been so kind and innocent and full of energy. And she had certainly not been a threat to anyone; whatever conflict was going on in the galaxy had been a mere curiosity to her.

And now she was dead. Along with hundreds of others. For what? Valin thought back to the night he had nearly been killed by that Darkling intruder. He could see the man’s face clearly. He had enjoyed killing Neleg; he had been eager to do the same to Valin. How many people like that were out there? How many were on this planet? And how long could life go on while they were waging this war against defenseless people?

Valin attended his classes that day, but he hardly heard anything that was said. Professor Gruben’s words kept haunting him. Can you honestly not imagine a cataclysmic outcome? The question had seemed a bit paranoid at the time, but now, each hour that passed seemed to make that outcome a little clearer in Valin’s mind. The classes he was taking now were pointless. The comforts he had enjoyed were all borne of ignorance. The galaxy was falling apart.

By the end of the day, Valin had decided that he had to do something. He could always join the defense force, of course, but how much good would that really do against a species that had been genetically engineered for battle? And that was to say nothing of what the Shadow Masters were capable of; even the low-level Darklings had apparently outmaneuvered the school’s security forces. But Gruben had been involved with something bigger. Something he thought was promising, even in the face of what he had viewed as the end of civilization. That had to be worth looking into.

When he showed up in Gruben’s office late that night, the professor hardly even looked surprised.

As it turned out, leaving his classes behind was much easier than Valin would have expected. The Order of the Seal had eyes all over the galaxy, and the more he learned about it, the more excited Valin felt. This war went far beyond anything he had imagined before; it was being fought in the very fabric of the galactic ether, in the very origin of their power itself. And each Darkling attack simply confirmed what Valin had begun to feel since that day: that their evil had to be eradicated at any cost. In the face of what they all stood to lose, what sacrifice could possibly be deemed too costly?

And so it was that Valin found himself sitting in a neural transfer lab on a remote world whose identity he had not even been told, with wires being attached all over his body. The technician looked far more nervous than Valin felt.

"You realize that this operation is final. You can’t copy a life force."

I understand.

"And there’s no guarantee that it will work, or what it will… do, even if it does."

I want this, Valin assured him. I’m ready.

Very well. Please state your name for the record.

Valin Arkron.

The technician nodded and gave the equipment a final check. When he looked back over, his eyes conveyed a sense of deep respect. Well, Mr. Arkron, the galaxy may not remember your name, but history will owe you a great debt. Valin nodded, and the man gave him a wistful smile.

Goodbye.

Chapter 1

Silence filled the darkness of the underground chamber, broken only by the quiet hiss of Dark Viper’s breath. His luminescent eyes glared into the blackness as he mentally reviewed the report he had just received from the crew of Dread Phoenix. It was disappointing, if not wholly unexpected. Nakmar Dren had already failed to kill either Nedward Simmons or Mirana Kelar when they had confronted him aboard his own ship, so it was hardly surprising that that cursed girl had managed to overpower him on land. Not that it was an excuse; Dren’s power should have been enough to finish her off. But he had obviously received all the punishment he was going to get, seeing as how he was dead.

Viper shook his head. It was disappointing to have used up both of his new Plasma Masters just to kill Simmons. After all, it had taken a long time and a lot of energy to polarize the Plasmic ether enough to isolate the Flame and Ice Plasma matrixes; there was no way to replace his fallen servants now. And to be honest, given the choice of killing Ned or Mirana, Viper would have chosen Mirana, since the Shadow Plasma had always been the real threat, even if it Viper had not known it at the start. Not to mention the fact that it had been Mirana who had humiliated Viper and allowed that boy to take the Matrix Crystal from him.

Still, things had worked out well enough. Mirana was alone, and Rax had kept her targets away from the real battle long enough for the Vortak to do their job, even without Dread Phoenix. And of course, while Marnax was still safe aboard that ship of his, he was acting predictably enough. So while things would certainly have been much simpler if Mirana had been killed, Viper was quite confident that everything was on track. The Seal would be open soon enough, and then nothing would be able to stop him.

A skittering off to one side drew Viper’s attention to the insectile creature moving along the wall. He dismissed the feeling of irritation he felt at the creature’s intrusion; as much of a hassle as the Vortak were, they were far less of a pain than the humans he had been forced to employ as servants before. At least these things seemed to know their place, and whatever fear they felt did not seem to get in the way of performing their jobs. It was nice to be able to forgo the motivational speeches and appeals to the greater good that he had once had to resort to. What is it?

The creature stopped and approached slowly. We have finished our analysis, it reported quietly. Protein levels are stable, and neural activity has nearly reached the target range.

Good. We should be on track then.

Word has come back from the fleet. They were unable to take control of-

Did they destroy their quota of Anacronian ships?

Yes.

Then again, we are on track.

Battle prospects for the future invasion are-

DID I ASK FOR ADVICE? Green fire erupted all around Viper as he rose to his feet and advanced on the insect in front of him. And here he had been just moments ago, thinking about how obedient these creatures were.

No, Master. I just thought you should know that-

Viper’s patience gave out then, and he enveloped the Vortak in a ball of green energy that exploded into a liquid swirl of light, vaporizing the creature instantly. It would not be good for the morale of the others, but fear had always been an adequate substitute for morale. As useful as the Vortak had been to him, Viper was going to be glad when he was beyond the need for them.

It would be very soon. The war was progressing as planned, and his project with the Hive was nearly ready. That should keep that Shadow Master away long enough. Viper sat back down and tried to imagine her face, and the look of dread that she would show when she realized the extent of her failure. He was not sure whether he hoped that she died before he was finished, or that she survived so that he could see that look for himself.

No, on further consideration he felt certain. Sentiment was cheap compared to the death of his enemies. Viper very much hoped that his new Hunter would do its job.

Chapter 2

Light. Everywhere.

No source, nothing to be illuminated, just blinding, white light.

Everywhere.

What is going on?

Ned tried to look down at himself, but somehow that didn’t work. Instead, as he tried to move his head, he became aware of movement in the light, and a slight change. That made him focus his attention outward again, and the changes became colors, and the movement increased. Points of light were flowing past him, slowly at first, and then more quickly. The colors intensified and twisted around each other, and the whiteness gave way to a swirling rainbow, wrapped into a sort of tunnel, through which he was passing. There was no sound, and for some reason Ned could not even tell which direction the light was moving – he might have been falling, or ascending, or being sucked backward or forward through the tunnel. He tried to blink, and nothing changed. He tried to put his hand to his stomach, but he felt numb.

As his mind focused on the odd sensation, his memory suddenly came back to him. He had been trying to rescue his friends. He had moved away from them, allowing the Vortak to attack him without any chance of hitting Smardwurst. Maybe this was what he had been planning after all.

Maybe he was dead.

The thought was surreal, but not really frightening. He realized that he didn’t really believe it was true. Somehow, he just didn’t feel dead. But how could he not have been killed by that stream of lasers? He had exhausted all of his Plasmic power, and he had felt the pain from that first shot. So what had happened?

Ned realized that the light was dimming, and the streaks of color were now just tendrils moving through a dark void. At the same time, a tingling feeling started to spread through his body, as if circulation were suddenly being restored to every inch of him. He tried to move again and felt cramped, but still he could not see himself. He tried to call forth the Plasma, but he could not sense it anywhere near him. Or, at least, it was inaccessible…

The light was dimming faster now, and soon it had faded altogether. The tingling lasted a few more seconds, and then, finally, there was something else. Something soft, and cold.

Ned flexed his fingers, and this time he could feel them touch each other. He was overjoyed when his body responded as he tried to shift positions. He found that he was lying on his back against a cold, hard surface, dressed in a tunic, pants, and shoes, all made of the same soft material. There was no pain in his shoulder, in spite of the laser blast he had suffered.

He carefully rose to one knee and saw a few points of light several feet away. But it was normal light, steady, like a readout on a control panel. He stood up and shuffled his feet toward the glow, worried that the floor might not be safe to walk on. There was indeed a step down after just a meter or so, but as soon as his foot found the drop-off a light came on in the room. It was dim, but it was enough to let him see his surroundings.

Ned was standing on a metal structure that was built into the floor of some kind of stone room. The dark gray walls were rough like those of a cave, but the floor was flat, and the lights and control panel were fused into the stone. If not for those bits of technology, he might have thought himself in one of Palandora’s caves. His heart quickened as he thought about what might lie outside the doorway in front of him.

He carefully stepped down from the platform and walked over to the panel, feeling a little odd wearing clothing that he had never seen before even though he had just arrived, as far as he could tell. In spite of the blinking lights, there was nothing on the wall panel to indicate what it was or how to interact with it, and Ned could see nothing else in the room that might tell him what he was doing here. He did, however, notice that something felt a little strange. Suddenly he wondered whether his power had been affected by his odd trip. He held up a hand and brought the blue, sparkling light into a glowing ball without effort, but right away he knew what was different: the power he was using all came from within himself; he could sense no other Plasma in the nearby air or rock. It was not that the power was inaccessible, like on Venom; rather, there was just no power there at all. It felt a little stifling to be cut off from a way to charge up, but given how weak he had been just minutes earlier he supposed he could not complain. In any case, there was nothing more to learn here, so after nervously straightening his tunic, he