Nebulae and Cosmic Filaments - A Second Anthology of SF SD Shorts

Part 2 - Shatter Storm

The maritime power that was ancient Atlantis had climbed quickly to a position of strength after the discovery of natural geo-thermal energy.  That discovery triggered a boom in the sciences that put the island nation millennia ahead of other nations of the time.  They had steam power while others were still chipping stones to use as tools and weapons.  And they used that advanced technology to dominate the ancient world, much to the chagrin of any other nations hoping to do the same.

The ancient Atlantians had handled these competitors easily with powerful ships and even more powerful weapons.  That is, until the Shatter Souls appeared; amoral monsters wielding technology and weaponry nearly as advanced as Atlantis, and possessing no inhibitions in the suffering they brought to their enemies.

The resulting war ravaged the ancient world, causing floods, earthquakes and fire falling from the sky with such catastrophic results, the rock-born recorded them in their myths, legends and holy books.  And it ultimately resulted in Atlantis' destruction in a day and a night with such calamity that the island sunk under the waves.

Ironically it was Atlantis and her children that won that war, driving the Shatter Souls into hiding for a thousand years.  And when they returned, they had lost a great deal of their technology, which drove them to take any they found from the children of the sea.  The Scions called them tech hunters, and their appearance would herald yet another war as the Shatter Souls would again attempt to wrest power from the Atlantians.

That war, the Atlantians won, and the war after.  And each time the Shatter Souls would return with even greater lust for technology and more depraved methods of getting it.

Finally the last war was enough to drive both nations into hiding from the rock-born; humans that were confined to the continents of their world.  For in their struggle with each other, the Atlantians and the Shatter Souls had ignored the rock-born's own quest for science and technology.  And, in the space created by thousands of years of war, the rock-born had gained enough learning to finally be able to uncover the hidden struggle for power that raged between the two.

So the Scions and the Shatter Souls took their war into the shadows, scattering outposts all over the world to both watch each other and to watch the rock-born as they now claimed supremacy by default over the planet.

Yet the appearance of tech hunters in the open now spoke of the Shatter Souls' willingness to step out of the shadows, their impatience grown too strong for the enemy to resist.  Impatient to begin hunting children of the sea once more.  Impatient to start a new war for dominance of the world.

A muscle in Attikus' jaw twitched with tension as he and an uncertain Ikarus watched no less than a dozen Shatter Soul tech hunters slip into the warehouse.  In appearance they didn't look that much different: dark clothes, grim expressions, and hard eyes.  Their bearing and mannerisms, however, were an entirely different story.

Everything about the Shatter Souls screamed arrogant aggression, from their stance to their belligerent stares.  They wanted to kill the two Atlantians, immediately and painfully, and made no effort to hide it.  And yet there was something holding them back.

"Imagine that," the same voice that initially spoke, said with an audible sneer.  Then one of the dark dressed men stepped forward, that sneer visible on his lean, wolfish features.

"Two salt spitters in the same place.  It must be our lucky day."  The other Shatter Souls laughed quietly at that.

"And because I've feeling especially generous, it has now become your lucky day, spitters."  The speaker's face hardened.  "You'll hand over every bit of Atlantian tech you have on you, from what's in your pockets to what's embedded in your flesh.  Do that and give me your word that we have it all, and you have my word that we'll let you live."

When neither Attikus nor Ikarus made a move, the speaker yanked a plasma pistol from a waist holster and pointed at Attikus' face.

"Alright look, I've tried to be reasonable. You give me your word in ten seconds or I shoot you in the head."  The speaker's face twitched.  "Then we'll yank out your implants anyway, one at a time."

Ikarus glanced over at his older brother, thoughts churning.  Attikus had always been the brave one, the strong one.  Would he resist the hunter's demand to his death?

It was a look that didn't escape the speaker's notice.  The plasma pistol's muzzle swung over to take aim at Ikarus.

"Or maybe I'll leave you alive and make you watch as we pull out his implants."

"No," Attikus immediately bit out.  He looked over at his brother and, for a brief moment, Ikarus saw that fear return to his eyes.

"I'll give you what you want, hunter."

"Good."  A cold smile twisted the hunter's lips upward.  "and to make sure you do, I've brought along a little friend."

The door into the warehouse swung open at that and both Atlantians felt cold fear trickle down their spines at what stepped through.  It was human in shape, naked to the waist with a powerful, muscular body.  Loose pantaloons were belted at that waist with a loose cord and a horned helmet covered its head and face, both in motley shades of red.  

But the most startling and frightening thing was the massive blade that it carried over its shoulder, easily as long as it was tall.  For a moment Attikus thought the massive blade to heavy to be easily weilded.  Only to watch the newcomer, a full head taller than any of the other Shatter Souls, shift the sword from one shoulder to the next with one, gauntleted hand as easily as if it was moving a broom stick.

"Okay, that I'm scared of," Ikarus said in a hoarse whisper.

"You like?"  The hunter grinned, looking over at the newcomer who had fixed the two Atlantians with a hard stare.  "Courtesy of genetic tech we managed to steal from you spitters in the last war.  We call him He-man.  By the power of Grayskull..."

The first blast caught the genetic mutant in the chest, blowing him back into the clustered hunters before they could react.  Then they were raining through the roof to hammer into the stunned hunters, dropping most of them to the ground.

The hunter that had done all the talking managed to snap a shot off at a ducking Attikus and Ikarus before he too was smashed to the side with a shot to the upper body.  Then, as abruptly as they had come, the weapon fire was gone.

"You boys just going to stand there?" a woman's voice called down from above.  Attikus looked up to see lights shining through the holes in the roof.  Lights being cast by an Atlantian fighter shuttle.

"I'd rather leave before the Shatter Souls send reinforcements."

Attikus straightened and looked over at his brother.  After a brief, silent conversation, he nodded and both touched the crystals in their wrists to activate their levitation fields.  Then they were darting up through the air to the waiting shuttle.