Galaxy of Heroes

The large chair spun around and revealed a small Noctish figure sitting inside it. The Noctish biped in the chair looked exactly like Professor Mahlis, only dressed differently, in some kind of military uniform. He wore a black shirt and black pants and small black boots on his tiny feet.

“Professor Mahlis!” the little Noctish creature in the chair exclaimed. “I had given up all hope on you!”

Professor Mahlis unclamped himself from his mech armor. The chest plate swung open and Professor Mahlis jumped to the floor. The empty mech armor remained standing as the professor ran up to the little humanoid dressed in black. They hugged each other happily.

The two Noctish jumped up and down and clapped their hands giddily.

“Why, don’t you look the dashing soldier?” Professor Mahlis said.

“And you were absolutely terrifying in all that horrible armor!” Professor Fahlis said.

Spade lifted his faceplate and breathed in the cold air inside the command and control vehicle. He watched the two Noctish curiously.

“Professor Fahlis, you almost killed me when you launched the nuke strike that destroyed 2rd Battalion,” Professor Mahlis said.

“I had no idea you had landed on the surface,” Professor Fahlis said. “I suspected as much when I picked up an encrypted ‘cease fire’ beacon from an inbound ship. And when Commander Cripp’s command vehicle was destroyed, my hopes were raised, but I had no way of knowing for sure it was you.”

“I had no way to communicate with you,” Professor Mahlis said. “You do not realize the degree of risk I have been taking lately.”

“Quite heroic, Professor Mahlis,” Professor Fahlis said. “Quite heroic, indeed.”

“What is our situation?” Professor Mahlis asked.

“It is quite dire,” Professor Fahlis answered. “We have achieved numerical superiority on the surface; however, a jammer squadron has joined the Craaldan Fleet and it is only a matter of hours until they pierce our missile shield and bombard our positions.”

“Not to worry, not to worry,” Professor Mahlis said. “Let us watch the fleet.”

The two Noctish turned their attention to a screen that displayed the Craaldan 17th Fleet as it rounded the orbit of Roga. General Seb’s command ship cruised between cruisers, destroyers and troop transports.

Professor Mahlis pulled out a small, handheld detonation device from a pocket in his rumpled shirt. “One! Two! Three!”

He pushed the button.

The two Noctish stared up at the screen for a moment. Then General Seb’s ship disappeared in a flash of white light. A powerful nuclear blast engulfed most of the Craaldan fleet.

The ships far enough from the blast were rocked by the shockwave. Several broke apart. Flames burst from the hulls of others.

“We now have the upper hand,” Professor Mahlis said. “The Craaldans have taken the bait and fallen into our trap!”

“Clever! Clever indeed!” Professor Fahlis said.

But then, Professor Fahlis appeared concerned, as if he were having second thoughts. “But Professor Mahlis, what if the Craaldans learn of your sabotage? This could put the Noctish in grave danger. There are millions of Noctish working behind Craaldan lines. And as we well know, the Craaldan do not take betrayal lightly.”

“Ah, but humanity will take the blame. It was this human who planted the nuke,” Professor Mahlis explained, pointing to Spade. “The Craaldan higher command have a record of our human friend depositing a mysterious canister on the command ship, and leaving another at the brigade command post. They will discover that these canisters were both the sources of these treacherous explosions.”

“Oh, you are a clever one!” Professor Fahlis said.

“I also sent a final transmission to higher headquarters, feigning my last dying breath, detailing how our human patsy had destroyed a scout squad, and then fatally wounded me with his evil subterfuge.”

“Excellent!” Professor Fahlis said.

“Our Noctish brothers and sisters with the Craaldans are all aware of their roles in this next stage in our plan,” Professor Mahlis said.

“So the next stage finally begins!” Professor Fahlis exclaimed giddily.

Spade attempted to take a step forward, but his mech armor locked up. He couldn’t move a muscle.

“What have you done, Professor?” Spade said.

“Commence the Diocon attack, Professor Fahlis,” Professor Mahlis said. “We must strike the Craaldan hard and fast while we have the numerical advantage.”

“Indeed!” Professor Fahlis said.

The little black-clad Noctish sat in his chair and spun around. He directed his attention to the large control panel before him. He rapidly pushed buttons, and on the screens above the Diocon units were set in motion in a vast attack across Zander’s Plain.

Tanks and infantry raced across the flat landscape toward the Naos Rift, throwing up huge columns of dust. Countless drones lifted off from the airfield behind Zander City and zoomed toward the Bleak Range.

Professor Mahlis walked up to Spade, who was standing motionless in his armor. Spade’s faceplate was still up. He looked down at the little Noctish who stood below him with his hands clasped behind his back.

“I know you are unable to appreciate your contribution to the success of this mission, Captain Spade, but you have been quite the asset,” Professor Mahlis said. “You have been invaluable, actually.”

“You rat-faced bastard,” Spade growled.

“You have played your small role in the coming collapse of the Craaldan Empire, Captain Spade. For that you may feel pride. It is a collapse we Noctish have been plotting for what seems an eternity, and for which we have taken great pains and risks to engineer. The Craaldan have been drawn into our trap. Their mighty interstellar fleets will engage the full brunt of the Diocon Empire here while we foment rebellion throughout their empire, and set in motion the alliances we have constructed to unite against them and attack them from their rear at their most vulnerable moment. The beginning of the end of the Craaldan Empire is at hand.”

“They trusted you and you betrayed them,” Spade said.

“Betrayed!” Professor Mahlis exclaimed. “They were nothing until they met the Noctish!” the little professor snarled. “We Noctish have suffered their impudence for long enough! The Diocon Empire will receive the benefaction of the Noctish now. ”

“What have the Diocons done with Dr. Zander?” Spade asked.

“Ah, yes,” Professor Mahlis said. “Your beloved Dr. Zander.”

“Dr. Zander?” Professor Fahlis spun around in his chair. “Dr. Zander was quite remarkable for a human. His intelligence was inestimable as we set up our operations in this system. I didn’t realize humans could achieve an intellect of his quality.”

“Where is he?” Spade demanded.

Fahlis thought the matter over. “Oh, yes. I sold him to a pathologist from the Malafax system about two Earth-decades ago, if I recall correctly. That sale earned me a paltry sum and I rather regret that I didn’t hold out for more. ”

“Is he still alive?” Spade asked.

“Perhaps,” said Professor Fahlis, who then spun his chair around and returned his attention to the control panel.

“You little worm,” Spade said.

Professor Mahlis pressed a button on a panel under his sleeve and the faceplate on Spade’s helmet clamped shut. Mahlis turned and joined Professor Fahlis at the control console.

Spade was still paralyzed inside the mech armor, and now he realized that no oxygen was reaching his blood stream. He was suffocating.

Panic set in. Mahlis had cut off his life support and now he only had moments to live.

Spade burned through the glucose in his brain trying to scan through the mech armor’s computer. He was able to access the armor’s external communications system and attempted to contact the command and control vehicle’s computer. He frantically cracked into a communications network and found a pathway to a transmitter. His neurons screamed for oxygen as he encrypted a file and then transmitted it through the command and control system’s central computer, and then out into space.

Spade tried to hang on but felt death pulling him down. His consciousness faded as darkness closed in quickly. His senses faded to black.