Rockets and Ray Guns - An Anthology of Sci-fi short stories

part 2

It didn't take long to traverse the shifting shadows of the conduit to the next world. Where, as he had almost suspected he would, the traveler discovered a second ward in place, blocking the gate.

Again the ward's outer face, clearly visible this time, was directed into the conduit as if the caster had retreated into the conduit from the other side and to this world, erecting the two wards as it went. 'Was it an attempt to block somebody trying to follow it?' the traveler wondered as he again used the interlocking rings of symbols to decipher the ward's caster. 'Or were they trying to hide something on this world from anybody with a reason to want it?'

The symbols quickly confirmed that this ward had indeed been cast by the same person that erected the first one. Interestingly enough, he also saw that the caster had attempted to render this ward invisible like the first one, but failed. That meant that, while that person was powerful enough to cast a level 6 ward, they weren't familiar enough with interdimensional conduits to know certain arcane aspects didn't work here, like cloaking spells.

Twisting the rings counter to each other, the traveler brought this second ward down and stepped forward to activate the gate. 'Let us find out what you don't want anybody else to see, yes?' he thought as he drew his blasters then strode through the light that glowed within the gate's heart.

A moment's transition through the light then the traveler was stepping onto the surface of yet another new world. Letting the light of transit fade, he prepared to move forward. Only to find himself facing nearly two dozen heavily armed soldiers in battle armor standing in front of him, their weapons pointed directly at his person.

"Tross vu, edekamiva!" a hard voice directed from one of the armored figures and the traveler slowly knelt to put his blasters on the ground before standing, hands over his head. Then several were rushing forward to scoop up his weapons and secure his hands behind his back with plastic binders.

As the soldiers worked to bind his hands, the traveler frowned as he considered this turn of events. First, these soldiers weren't speaking Common, the general language of the Flux. Instead they were speaking elvish, one of the fantasy languages. Since only Elves spoke that particular tongue, and had since being pulled into reality from the fantasy world by Unity, he was forced to conclude his captors were, indeed, elves.

However, these elves weren't the protectors of the forest and users of magic that they were in the stories. Sporting powered battle armor, phased particle shielding, and neutron shock rifles, they were high tech stormtroopers more suited to fighting wars in space. To find them here and equipped as they were, was unsettling.

Still, elves in powered armor wasn't enough of a secret to require warding a conduit to protect it. Something else must be happening here that required secrecy. Then further pondering was put on hold as rough hands jerked him forward and away from the gate.

Here, on this world, the gate was located in a small defile formed between two rocky slabs. As such, it took some walking to work their way clear, the cliffs on either side hiding any further world details. So, when they finally stepped clear of the winding passage, the traveler took a quick, but thorough look around.

Immediately apparent was that this world wasn't like the forested one he had left before. The defile opened onto a pavement apron which ran along the edge of a massive military base. Having seen a few during the two wars that had rocked the Flux for centuries, he instantly recognized the broad spaces to muster in, clusters of reinforced buildings, multiple defense emplacements and the shimmering energy shield providing protection for what it was. After all, such places had a uniformity to them that was undeniable.

Sealing the identification were the squadrons of ground effect mobile artillery, spider tanks, and drilling companies of soldiers, both in and out of armor. Streaking by overhead with high pitched hisses were winged fighter craft and in the near distance large transports were climbing into the sky, destined for parts unknown, their presence further confirming his initial observation.

So, a heavily defended military base and built within walking distance of an interdimensional gate. Almost as if they were guarding against a threat they expected to appear through that gate.

A hard jab with a rifle butt in the back coupled with a harsh "Nakana pret!" 'Eyes forward!' was enough to pull the traveler's attention back to the space in front of them just as his escort marched him between a pair of dug-in bunkers, each flanked by missile and particle beam batteries. It was no coincidence that they didn't aim at the sky, but at the rocky defile instead.

Just as they marched past a shield generator a small, heavily armored transport hummed by a few meters over their heads. Without turning his head to follow it, the traveler watched out of the corner of his eye as it swung around, extended a set of stubby landing legs and eased down onto the ground.

Taking him by the arms, the traveler's escort marched him right at the transport as a boarding ramp opened and dropped towards the ground, extending as it did. They were still twenty meters away when a figure began making its way down the ramp.

"I knew you would come," the figure said in a man's voice, speaking Common. "I knew eventually you would come looking for me when enough of your worlds went dark."

He halted at the ramps foot and turned towards the traveler just as his escort stopped him and forced him to kneel.

"But where are your armies?" he asked, making a show of looking behind the traveler. "Where are your fabled reavers?"

Reavers? The traveler's thoughtful frown deepened. Only the Dedicated had soldiers they called reavers. Did this pompous fool think he was a Dedicated?

Ironically he wouldn't be wrong. The traveler indeed was part of the first order of scientists and mystics that created the Unity Engine that forever altered the multi-verse. But where the other Dedicated had lifted themselves up as gods and attempted to lord over the Flux, the traveler realized what evil they had done and fought to change it. And when he found that he couldn't, he fought against the Dedicated and their oppressive rule instead, earning himself a dubious title.

Arch Heretic.

"Is that why you warded the gates?" he asked in a quiet voice. "Because you feared the Dedicated would come for you?"

His answer came in the form of a gauntleted fist to the side of his head, the blow rocking his senses for a moment.

"The Supreme Leader fears nothing!" the elf that hit him, growled in an accented voice.

"My captain is right," the man the elf called 'supreme leader', confirmed with a smirk as the traveler willed his senses to steady. "I don't fear the Dedicated. In fact, I've been looking forward to facing them in battle for nearly a thousand years, ever since I started building my empire."

A thousand years; that meant he was looking at the technomage that had warded the gates. The kind of power such magic took had a tendency to make its caster immortal. Yet, he was clearly not amongst those that gained their power at Unity, as he had. No, he had somehow acquired it nearly 1700 years later.

How this man had acquired the power and his subsequent immortality didn't matter. The traveler had faced others that had stolen, bought, and borrowed power before. That part didn't trouble him. It was what this fool, standing arrogantly in front of him, had chosen to do with his acquisitions that bothered the grim sojourner.

The supreme commander had used his magic and extended life to carve out an empire from the numberless worlds of the Flux. An empire he was willing to kill to keep. In doing so, he had become exactly like the technomages the traveler had spent over two millennia fighting. He had become a Dedicated.

"In building your empire, have you made life better for those you rule?" he asked. "Have you used your power to protect them from the horrors and nightmares?"

The man snorted.

"I don't protect," he sneered. "I conquer. If a world resists my rule, I send in my military to crush them. If they continue to resist after being conquered, I purge them from existence. I care not whether their lives are better or not."

The traveler's expression tightened. That was all he needed to hear to make his decision. To avenge the countless souls sacrificed in the name of ambition, and to save countless more if he was allowed to continue his conquest of the Flux, this monster had to fall!