Invader

Kapp heard a hollow pop noise, as he opened his eyes he realized the ship was now in open space. One second he was staring at the roof of the dome, and now here he was. To his surprise, they had traveled straight through it. Looking backwards he could see the top of the dome. Home ship was a floating gray sphere in the middle of space, Kapp couldn’t tell how it was propelled and could not imagine how it functioned.

“Did we just go straight through it?” Kapp asked.

“The top of Home Ship is not solid from the inside. We can always travel out of it at speed when necessary,” Qualia stared straight ahead while she answered, intensely focused on piloting the small ship.

“What about going back in?”

“A member of the Shoal monitors our ships, they can allow the exterior to admit us when we get close.”

Kapp had to suppress an image of them crashing straight into the top of the dome because Azule, Caltuth, or Cerule weren't paying attention.

“Comforting. Hopefully they will be watching,” Kapp said with a nervous chuckle.

Looking ahead he could see many other Aqualin ships traveling towards a human support ship.

“They have come! That’s the Alpha’s support ship, they would come to resupply us on our mission,” Kapp said, giddy at the idea of seeing other humans.

“We are too late Kapp, I am sure they are all dead. The Nokken may have left a survivor to bring more humans as they did with you.”

Looking closer he saw six ominous looking ships perched on top of the support ship. They reminded Kapp of ships straight out of an ancient history book he had studied while in the academy. They looked like viking long boats, though they were made of some sort of dark reflective material, they had a shell like roof encasing the back half of the deck, and a forward facing transparent viewport. The ship's had serrated blades extending out from where one would imagine the oars should be. As he watched he saw Nokken climbing up through holes where the ships were in contact with the support ship. Presumably they were preparing to leave after they had performed their evil mission onboard.

On the other side of the support ship a large evil looking ship lurked ominously. It was half the size of Home Ship, but dwarfed all other ships. It was angular in shape forming a compressed pyramid, along each edge angled serrated blades extended.

“What’s the plan?” Kapp asked, trying to stifle the anxiety he felt.

“We can’t let the survivor escape, we must keep them from returning to your kind and bringing weapons to the Nokken.”

“How are you so sure there even is a survivor?”

“Do your small human eyes not see well in the dark?” She asked, her haughty attitude returning.

Kapp couldn’t imagine he could see nearly as well as Qualia could with her large eyes. They seemed to be all pupils so he was sure that space lit up for her.

“Evidently not as well as your big peepers. What do you see?”

“Peepers?” she asked incredulously.

Kapp guessed that one didn’t translate as well.

“Never mind, what do you see?”

“There is a small ship like the one you arrived on Home Ship with. It is between us and the Nephrops.”

“Nephrops? What's Nephrops?”

Moving closer to the support ship Kapp saw the Nokken ships fly away like flies scattering from a corpse. At least ten of the Aqualin ships had reached them. The largest of the Nokken ships flew straight at them with the other five on its tail.

Kapp never thought he would watch sword play in space but that’s what this battle looked like, the ships flew around slashing at each other with their extended blades. The Aqualin ships would spin quickly as the Nokken ships approached deflecting their attacks. Coordinating, two Nokken ships flew side by side, slicing each side of the line of Aqualin ships at once. Most managed to avoid the dual attack but three were split clean in two. Kapp was sure that the Nokken would soon be overwhelmed despite the Aqualin casualties. The rest of the Aqualin fleet was soon to catch up with the front runners and surround them.

As the thought entered his head the giant angular ship moved in at a rapid speed. It cut off the fleet from the ships already engaged. It spun rapidly and Kapp saw several Aqualin ships sent flying away crushed from the attack.

“That is the Nephrops,” Qualia said, anger evident in her voice.

“Abandon the assault!” Azule's voice shouted, transmitted from the controls of their ship. “We have been boarded, return to Home Ship now!”

“PIRTH!” Qualia shouted as she flipped and spun their ship over to speed back towards Home Ship.

While the word didn’t translate completely to Kapp, he recognized a cuss when he heard one in any language.

“So wait, you said a member of the Shoal had to let a ship back through right?” He said, fighting the sickness he felt from Qualia’s erratic flying.

“There must be a traitor among us. There is no way we could have been boarded without an enemy ship having been granted admittance.

“Did any warriors stay behind?”

“Only Cerule and Azule, all others flew out to fight. How many Nokken attacked the crew on your ship?”

The attack flashed back in Kapp’s mind. He remembered the command bridge doors extending revealing the seven evil beings that killed his companions in cold blood.

“Seven. There were Seven.” He said, pushing down the memory.

“Yet only six raiding ships were here. That means the seventh must have gone to Home Ship. We must hurry. Azule should be able to hold off one Nokken in combat for a period.”

“How do you fight them? Do your weapons pierce their armor?”

“No, there is a small gap in their armor where their hair escapes their helmets. Fighting them is difficult and is best done in groups of two. Someone has to be behind them to complete the killing blow.”

They were back to the dome of Home Ship. Kapp saw a green flash light up the control wheel as they approached, which he hoped meant they were clear to enter and would not smash into the dome. The hollow pop noise happened again as they passed through the barrier. Looking down, Kapp saw a fight unfolding. One of the Nokken ships had landed on the beach Two Nokken were fighting with Cerule and Azule who were attempting to cut off their escape. Kapp could see that one of the Nokken was the one that had been in the cage, the other had an eye patch covering one of the evil red eyes behind its helmet.

Could it be? Kapp thought, Could this be the monster that killed Bristax?

Cerule and Azule were holding their own, parrying and dodging the reckless attacks of the two armored covered barbarians. The Nokken spun and swung with their evil looking spiked weapons. They tried to use their claws as weapons as well to smash or grab hold of their foes. Cerule used her long spear to block the attacks from their weapons, but never to counter attack, wary of having it grabbed by the claw of one of the monsters. Azule would dodge the attacks and kept trying to get behind one of them in order to stab their small vulnerable spot with his two-sided long knife.

“Can’t Cerule touch one with her spear and send it flying like you did to the one in the cage?” Kapp asked.

“Mother’s spear doesn’t work like that, only mine does. Even then, only under the water. If we do not intervene both will perish.”

Their ship landed on the beach 100 yards behind the Nokken and Qualia quickly reached up to open the hatch.

“I don’t have a weapon!” Kapp shouted as Qualia sprang from the ship and dashed along the beach toward her parents.

“You didn’t need one when you fought Caltuth!” She called back to him as she ran at top speed to enter the fray.

Caltuth also did not have a weapon, and wasn't a monstrous half lobster murderer, he thought to himself. He desperately looked around the small ship for any kind of weapon to no avail.

Kapp could not believe the speed that Qualia ran. She tore up the beach, sand flying in her wake. He was still climbing out of the the ship when Qualia drove her spear into the base of the neck of the Nokken that had once been her prisoner. It never saw her coming as they had landed far enough away, and it had been too engaged in combat.

“Anktan!” It shouted to the other with its last living breath.

Anktan turned to look at the fallen Nokken. It glowered at the Aqualin with venomous hatred.

“You will all die. None will survive. I am Anktan the Severe! Right hand to Nykkjen the Inviolable!” the eye-patch wearing one shouted at them and attacked all three Aqualin with renewed vigor and speed granted by rage from the death of its comrade.

Where the Aqualin fought with grace and practiced movements, Anktan was now a spinning whirlwind of spikes and claw. Its claw connected with Cerule’s jaw, sending her flying high up and landing hard on her back unconscious, her spear lodged in the sand. As Azule followed the trajectory of his mate, Anktan’s spiked weapon found his midsection. He fell to his knees, greenish blood spilling from his gruesome wounds onto the beach.

“MOTHER NO!” Two young voices called out from the water.

Nixie and Tovin both sprang from the water weapons in hand, determined to not allow their mother to fight the enraged monster on her own. Nixie’s spear was much larger than her, and unwieldy in her young hands. Tovin had the traditional bladed weapons that reminded Kapp of a much deadlier version of brass knuckles.

Kapp ran for Cerule’s spear as Nixie and Tovin ran past him to assist Qualia.

“Children no!” She called to them

The distraction of her children entering danger was too much and Anktan was able to catch her spear in its claw. It wrenched it from her grasp, pulling her sideways. As it did it swung its weapon at her and its spikes stuck deeply into her exposed back.

Qualia fell to her knees like her father, unable to rise. She stared at the monster through pain filled eyes. Kapp realized that the spiked weapon must have some kind of paralyzing toxin. Tears sprung from her large eyes as she watched helplessly as the monster turned towards her children.

“You will watch Qualia, as I rip your offspring apart limb by limb,” It said menacingly.

As Nixie and Tovin sped towards Anktan its helmet recessed back into its armor. Revealing a feminine, but absolutely evil gray face.

“I want you to see your family's killer.” she said.

Nixie was there a split second before Tovin, she drove her spear at Anktan’s chest. Anktan did not even bother to dodge as the spear careened harmlessly off of her carapice.

“Hahahahaha, you have much to learn, and no time to do so young one.” she laughed evilly picking Nixie up by her throat with her powerful claw.

“Noooo!” shouted Tovin, throwing himself at the monster.

Anktan saw the attack coming and parried with her weapon and then kicked at Tovin’s midsection hard with her armored covered foot. Tovin fell hard trying to catch his breath. Anktan moved towards Qualia holding the now whimpering Nixie towards her.

“Say goodbye Qualia,” Anktan said, holding Nixie up high above Qualia.

In the meantime Kapp had picked up the fallen spear. He was still ten yards away from the Nokken monster that had murdered his partner on the Alpha. He knew he would be too late to save Nixie from facing the same fate as Bristax. He hurled the spear in desperation at her.

“Now you d—'' Before Anktan could finish her sentence the spear seemed to grow from her forehead as Kapp’s desperate throw found its mark.

Anktan crumpled and her claw relaxed from Nixie's neck. Nixie quickly separated herself from the now dead Nokken and scrambled for her mother. Kapp ran to pick up Tovin.

“Dumb thing should’ve kept its helmet on. Would’ve kept it from being impaled, and none of us would’ve had to have seen its ugly face,” Kapp said to Tovin trying to be good hearted as he helped him up. “Are you ok?”

“Better than the rest it seems,” his young voice said shakily.

“Tovin, hurry and get some red kelp. We need to get some in your family quickly.”

Without a word Tovin sped away back towards the water.

Kapp looked up to the top of the dome wondering why no other ships had entered. It seemed like whoever had let the Nokken in had also only let their ship return. One problem at a time, but Kapp had a pretty good idea of who was to blame here.

Where is Caltuth.