Chapter twenty-five

It didn’t take long for the small craft to make it into space and meet Todd to take some more of the clones for himself. Some of the clones he was to take were to for Little Tooth, Fred’s crew. They were to help with sending the captured magic users to the now huge house inside of Little Tooth’s cargo bay. Conny was onboard controlling both of Fred’s sparing androids organizing the rescued magic users. Some just wanted to leave, to go back to where they were taken from. Some wanted to join the fight and get their revenge. The androids informed them that no one could leave because there might be some planted spies that could hamper the rescue mission. In fact, she had found three that were planted agent rogue mages who were in separated in stasis fields from the rest of the rescued magic users. Some were protesting until they were reminded that they were lucky to be alive and free, not trapped human batteries. Conny used the androids with as if she was made to do so.

Fred had seen the large clones on the new vid projection calls. He was surprised by the fact that they seemed more mature yet still looked like taller Sky’s with the same proportions.

During the missions two free the captured magic users from their stasis chambers. The clones quick, efficient, and decisive movements. Even during impossible odds for elite soldiers, they prevailed with what seen to be no effort. Joe and Fred could just make sure they got to each of the next ships with captured magic users to be freed. They knew that even though they were two elite soldiers, they seemed like children playing war games together.

Todd, Cortney, and Heather at first tried to help the Sky clones with the missions. They soon found out that they could do little to help. They gave up trying to help and just co-ordinated with Captain Fred, Jane, and Rocssanna how best to finish the mission. They used their new heightened awareness to locate any chaos magic being used to steal gifts from mages and more desirable traits. If it weren’t for the time spell, the Sky’s cast many more of the lives would have been lost.

David Teflon watched his massive fleet wink out by some unknown enemy. He couldn’t see or even divine what was causing the Titan invasion fleet to fall so quickly. He tried to contact some of his forces that were near the first attack, but no one responded. Whatever was attacking them, they seem to have stayed on the planetary plain. He knew there was magic involved, but there wasn’t any spent magical power coming away from the what must have been very powerful spells. He had to do something; his revenge was being taken away by some unseen force. By the way, his fleet was being decimated he was going to have to retreat in a spaceship capable of light speed if he was to get away. His ship had the latest stealth tech to date, thanks to Mark Douglas. He never heard anything after the second warning coming from Little Tooth. He was supposed to hijack two more ships if things went well. Something went seriously wrong after they picked up a little girl with a tremendous amount of magic. They should have been easy to capture with the identifying signal of the two ships. They had old stealth tech and no projectile weapons. The shields had a shutdown code secretly installed in the A.I. He was told where a scout ship was hiding. It had a mission to find out where the hijacked ships were being taken. The small ship was filled with the elite crew, and all had deep wells. They were about to be captured, but the scout ship made some impressive maneuvers and escaped capture. The three ships that were supposed to hijack them ended up filled with men who had memories wiped of all magic gifts erased. Mark also informed him that Little Tooth was going to enter his solar system with the scout ship. But after going into com-silence, they never reappeared at the right place. A Little Tooth broke com-silence on the opposite side of the solar system. That’s when all spaced excrements broke loose. Ships and planets were being overtaken by what seemed to be four or more ships. His commanders stopped responding with updates. He wasn’t sure if Mark had double-crossed him and sent an invasion force. The ships that were assaulting them had some very powerful projectile weapons. Some of the projectiles were analyzed and found to be made of hardened rock. The gun that fired the rocks had to be a kind of magical canon he’s had never heard of. The shots that took out the ships were very precise and made from a long distance. He couldn’t think how anyone could possibly make those shots even with powerful magic.

He had no more time now to contemplate the gun and the shots. He had to make some hard choices to fight, flee, or surrender. By the way, his fleet was being taken out; it would be foolish. Surrendering didn’t look too much better either. It looked like whoever was coming stopped taking prisoners at least the corrupted chaos mages. He had some of the more coveted gifted mages loaded onto his ship and one with the deepest magic wells. He had about forty of the captured magical people loaded onto the ship. If he could get away, he could rebuild the fleet once he finds a new financier once he discovered if Mark Douglas sold him out. Mark, the Fleet Commander, was paid well and had an investment in getting some of the Titan techs. He also had no love for the colossal beings and would love to see them on the run.

From what David understood the Titan race in the unknown space was sparsely populated. It would have been easy to attack the Titans. Their ships had next to no weapons and made for travel, not war. The Titans during the war had guns that were actually meant for hunting animals, not for war. They used the size of their bodies to kill more often than any guns. David and a few of his most trusted mages knew using four elemental alinements, or the chaos magic could kill Titans where they were indestructible before. Before that discovery, only Titans could kill Titans.

David’s time to choose was greatly diminishing as the unseen forces closed in. He decided to call Mark to see why he turned against his cause. He opened the com as he started to prepare to retreat. As the dedicated com opened, Mark started the vid-call with what David thought was annoyed tone. “How can I help you now? How did capturing Little Tooth and the scout ship? Did they escape again, or it was harder to capture them than you thought?”

David was enraged “I never even seen them let alone capture anyone. I was, however, attacked by the covert forces you sent me. I don’t know what viral and twisted games your playing by sending an elite cloaked squadron to wipe out something you helped just as much to build. Why would you not only pull back but try to destroy everything we worked for?” He retorted in rage as he packed some personal things into a small pocket space box.

Mark couldn’t understand what David was talking about. The two ships couldn’t have put up that much of a fight with no suitable shielding or projectile weapons. Even with the strange girl’s magic would be no match for the forces, David’s huge fleet possessed. He knew the two crews were very formable in ground combat, but they were on a ship their personal magic was of no use. With no shields, even the little girl Sky tremendous magic well was of no use once their ship was hit by a laser or projectile. “What are you talking about David? I sent nothing but two of the imperial ships I gave you the disabling codes for. They had no shield upgrades or weapon you had not been told able. They should have been easy to overtake if you couldn’t handle two poorly armed ships with no shields. How could you take care of a universe full of Titans?” He asked David. He remembered all of the upgrades that were sent onto the imperials fleet network. He didn’t think Fred and Joe came up with all of them at one time but over the years and held back many for themselves as many do. He never thought anyone would come up with so many and not enter then for extra credit. Now he was questioning where they got the spells. The little girl told him she had come up with some spell modifications and did somethings that were thought to be impossible. He was planning on using her as his own battery once the skirmishes started with the Titans. He didn’t like how the little snob returned his antique gun and bragged how much magic she had. Now apparently, she slipped through David’s captive solar system and was now possibly wreaking havoc on his allies. “Did you install all of the new upgrades onto your system? There were quite a few; some of them could possibly help you find your assailants.”

“I just want to know why you turned on us? They couldn’t have gotten by us without help from another team of scouts and battleships. You had to have told someone to warn them. I’m going to make you pay for double-crossing me and the great cause against the oppressive Titans.” David spat out, rage showing on his face as he stormed onto his battleship. He left the com open not knowing if it could be traced, but he did want to let him make another call before he left. It came to him then that the two Titans did show up. But it couldn’t have been the ones from Little Tooth. They were full size when they appeared coming from an actual ship.

Mark was shocked at the accusation and the new information of their plan going so wrong. “I haven’t told anyone of our plans and definitely not Captain Fred, Joe, or Squad leader Todd and his misfit crew. I just wanted them gone and giving them to our cause would have been a fitting end. I thought the gift captain Fred possesses would have been something you could have used. The three others would have been a bonus being small Titans. I want the Titan menaces over and the huge miscreants gone or even subjugated. Size does not mean might. They shouldn’t have used their size to kill your parents.” Mark hoped his words would placate David’s tirade.

David heard everything Mark said and did not believe his words. He was in his new battleship, getting ready to run and fight his way out. He was formulating a plan of what he could do in defence of his ultimate goal. He had a few ideas of what he could do with the chaos magic against the Titans. The ship was manned by efficient men and women. They stayed well out of his way as he ranted on about how his plans were in ruins. David just had to wait until they had the maximum power chambers. He wished that the people knew that some sacrifices were necessary for their success to complete his mission of stopping the Titan perceive inevitable oppression.

Few of the men around him knew that the chaos magic was taking its toll on his sanity. He was slipping into dilutions of grandeur and unholy righteousness. The man David Teflon was no longer of sound mind, and no one else noticed because most were even further along than he was. Many of the men thought that the shields they used were working to stop the process of insanity. What it did do was slow the process that no one could recognize the fall into madness.