Way of Light by J.N. Chaney & M.F. Lerma

Author:J.N. Chaney & M.F. Lerma [Chaney, J.N. & Lerma, M.F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Variant Publications
Published: 2023-09-22T16:00:00+00:00

12

Sweat beaded along my brow.

After we reached the magma chamber, I noticed the shields began to drain at a steady pace from prolonged exposure to the excessive heat. It also had an effect on the interior. The temperature inside the ship had started to climb, the ship’s climate control struggling to counter the volcano’s blistering heat as power was diverted to priority systems.

To add a sprinkle of fun to the experience, the strike ships caught up thanks to the handy path we’d made for them.

“How can they be stupid enough to continue firing on us?” demanded Camilla when one of their attacks narrowly missed us.

It slammed into the wall instead, sending showers of sparks and molten fragments in every direction. The cacophony of blasts and echoes filled the chamber and seemed to shake the very foundations of the volcano we were trying to escape.

More shuddering from the walls continued to knock debris free.

According to Deacon, that wasn’t bad all by itself. But between three squadrons and our larger expeditionary vessel, the combination of beam cannon fire colliding with the volcano’s interior, and the intense heat from the engines, rapid expansion occurred in a part of the volcano that was already unstable.

The fiery mountain groaned as if to confirm, and I felt the tremors beneath us growing stronger. It didn’t matter to Kinard that we weren’t fighting back. Both Sunny and Gray attempted to get through to them so we could call a truce until everyone was in the clear, but they went ignored again.

Supposedly, the vibrations from the engines only exacerbated the instability by interacting with the specific geological structure of the volcano. I didn’t care about the science, but I did care about the cracks beginning to form in the walls and plumes of steam and ash that billowed from unseen fissures.

Every small change indicated that an eruption was starting to build. The path ahead kept narrowing, and the glow of magma seemed to get brighter.

“We can’t hold out much longer!” Barrick yelled over the din, his eyes on the system readout.

It was a mix of red and yellow alerts—mostly red—telling us what we already knew: shit was about to reach critical mass.

The world outside was a blur of fire and rock, a hellish landscape that seemed intent on swallowing us whole. Every second was a battle for survival, a dance with death that left no room for error.

Through it all, the stubbornly silent idiots stayed on our ass. I watched another volley of cannon fire tear past on the battle board and got pissed. At this point they were going with the spray-and-spray-some-more method. Either they were too stupid to realize they were adding to the volcano’s instability, or they were intentionally helping it along.

The relentless chaos didn’t bother me nearly as much as one unanswered question that wouldn’t go away.

Who the hell were these people?

The most obvious answer was the Separatists. But why? They had first tried to get us off the Treader. Then, when that failed, they seemingly wanted to goad us into engaging.

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