Chapter 9

Both cannons and bladed boomerangs arrayed themselves and cut their way through Edzak's army. The cannons opened fire upon them, wiping out rank after rank with each volley of halos, and it never stopped coming until the battleships had been cleared out of the way, with the boomerangs returning back to the Aegis'armour.

"Attack !" Edzak ordered, not wasting a second, he sent another wave of battleships and battlecarpets to confront the Aegis.

"I didn't come here to lose Kied," Edzak yelled.

"Neither did I", Kied replied, "Hypernox, it's time we took a ride."

"The chariots are ready," Equivax sent the news which made Hypernox screech excitedly.

They tore from the Aegis in droves, their wings bladed and rugged, their motion sonic, unmatched by Edzak's. Taking a leap from the top of the Aegis, Kied fell downwards, drawn by the magnetic field which his chariot produced. He landed on its seat, with Hypernox firmly holding onto his shoulder with his talons. The windshield closed as those geometric controls came to life and that holographic screen which projected the formation of his fleet on the battlefield.

"Let's sail Hypernox," Kied said charging into the thick of the battle, confronting Edzak's fleet.

That clang of steel and crash of halos arose, but Kied's fleet was more organized, finding several weak spots within Edzak's fleet and taking down battleships from unexpected corners. Flanked by his mobile canny who cleared the way from behind, Kied was invisible, with the bladed boomerangs ever fast in their rotatory motion, as they kept rebounding and taking down ranks from the enemy's fleet. It was a sea of flames and steel.

Using the bladed wings of his stellar chariots, Kied sliced through the armour of an enemy chariot, then swirling out of the way of a stray halo, he took down another from behind. Taking aim, he unleashed a volley of halos upon a battlecarpet, sending it exploding in flames. So did the rest of his mobile fleet, following his command, they gave the for no respite. Kied needed no army to take down even the strongest cosmic lord, with a fleet of his own, he was a one man army, fluid and unstoppable.

The bladed boomerangs leading the way sliced through a flank of battlecarpets standing in the way of Kied's chariots, a volley of halos fell behind, taking down the foe's resurfacing ranks from his sides. Locking onto his targets, Kied unleashed a wave of halos upon the leftover ranks of the assaulting battleships, and so did the rest of his fleet, following suit, they sent the entire battlefield ablaze.

Kied climbed out of his chariot, standing at its top, he stared at Edzak, daring him for more.

Edzak's eyes were ablaze with fury and frustration, he had lost his entire army of cosmic beasts, he had lost part of his fleet and was about to lose his newly acquired territory. It infuriated him, Kied had turned into something else, something too mysterious and powerful to be understood and defeated. He was a pirate, wasn't he ? Then why didn't he go plunder from the high seas instead of thwarting his plans and standing in his way, preventing him from acquiring more territories. Edzak didn't know how he did it, but Kied was always there whenever he was about attacking any galaxy, maybe he had something which always kept track of him. Who was this monster anyway ?

"Who are you Kied ?" Edzak yelled.

What was wrong with him ? Edzak reasoned, had he gone crazy. There was Kied chuckling to his question, but it wasn't a hilarious one, it was dark and bitter, something one could call seething in laughter.

"He wouldn't want to know, will he Hypernox ?" Kied said.

Hypernox cooed, it wasn't his usual energetic voice, this time it was strained, a melancholic strain.

Onca again the tears rolled down his left eye, his hair concealing it from everyone. His stellar chariot turning around when he finally said to Edzak.

"I'd advise you retreat and salvage what you have left of your fleet", he paused, wanting his listener to take it all in, "except you want to be left with a single battlecarpet like your friend Novic."

"Novic !" Edzak echoed.

"Yes, Novic", Kied replied, "you know, the one with a bad temper." His chariot sailing back to the Aegis.

Novic, Edzak gasped. He'd get to the bottom of this later, for now it would be wise to not make the same mistake as Novic. Apart from his present objective, Edzak was determined to get to the bottom of this personality known as Kied.

"Retreat !" Edzak ordered.

The rest of his fleet made a turnaround as they sailed away from this interstellar city.

"Equivax", Kied called, " you know that we can't leave without raising the city's fallen battlements."

"It'll be done in a pulse," Equivax replied.

Creating that geometric configuration which sent a swarm of octahedral blocks of radioactive steel towards the outskirts of this city.

Kied climbed onto the bow of the Aegis, with Hypernox on his shoulder, meeting Equivax who awaited his return.

"You did well in returning Hypernox back to his higher state," Equivax commended.

"As you had earlier said, we are one", Kied replied, "a pain to one is pain to all ..."

"And a gain for one" Equivax completed, "is a gain for all."

Hypernox screeched to the cosmic heavens, his excited voice rippling across the expanse of this cosmic plain.