Barbarians

They call us problem child

We spend our lives on trial

We walk an endless mile

We are the youth gone wild

We stand and we won't fall

We're one and one for all

The writing's on the wall

We are the youth gone wild!

Skid Row - “Youth Gone Wild”

There was no way for Jiyazh to block Chugaz Uydan’s charge. With over one hundred kilograms of body mass hurtling towards him, it would take someone far stronger than a Khonhim warrior to stand firm.

Which is why he avoided the attack instead.

Jiyazh pirouetted out of the way as Chugaz flew past him, delivering a wicked backslash that left a thin trail of orange blood along his ribcage. The Dhyaksh bellowed with pain and anger, spinning around to face him as danced clear of the follow-up attack. Jiyazh’s blade found nothing but air before he recovered and returned to his stance.

“First blood is mine,” he said.

Chugaz’s hand went to his side before he snarled and charged forward once again, whipping his blade back and forth before him like a buzz saw as he forced Jiyazh back. He gave ground, allowing Chugaz to flail away as they neared the edge of the ring, then dropped and rolled forward, coming in under the Dhyaksh’s knife arm for a disemboweling thrust.

Only to realize too late Chugaz’s attack had been a feint.

His offhand snapped forward, pointing at Jiyazh’s head as a tube concealed within his sleeve coughed, sending an invisible burst of vapor into his eyes. His arm came up as searing pain stabbed into his brain, protecting his face as he tried to scrabble away, with Chugaz close on his heels.

Jiyazh’s collapse did not go unnoticed. “Damn it,” Musashi cursed, as Tango chimed in.

“Got him in my sights,” she said. “Want me to take him out?”

“Negative,” he said, “We kill him now, and we’re the ones who interfered. Remain in Counter-sniper mode.”

“Copy,” Tango replied, as Jiyazh lunged back up to his feet.

The pain was excruciating, as he fought to clear his eyes. With his vision blurred Chugaz’s blade struck, again and again, stabbing into his arms and chest. Jiyazh backpedaled, desperate to put some distance between them, as he heard his enemy’s mocking laugh.

“Surrender, Jiyazh Ghuuyaz, and I will grant you a quick death,” he sneered, before bounding forward once more.

Jiyazh froze, his head canted at an odd angle, as Chugaz’s booted feet slammed into the earth during his charge. The Dhyaksh’s blade was held high as he came in for the kill...only to gasp in shock as Jiyazh’s hand blurred, hurling his dagger straight into his chest.

Sergeant Lin’s teeth flashed in fierce triumph as Chugaz staggered back, gripping the handle protruding from his ribcage and pulling it free as Jiyazh turned to face him. His eyes were red and swollen, but he tracked his opponent’s every movement with ease as he strode forward, his empty hands raised in a martial artist’s stance. Chugaz stumbled back in fear as Jiyazh stalked his prey, and in that moment, Lin knew the fight was over.

Chugaz screamed to the heavens as his hands slipped inside his tunic, before whipping them out to his sides. Nassat shielded his eyes as a blinding light and thunderous explosions filled the ring...as everyone around him vanished from sight.

“Flashbangs and smoke!” Musashi shouted, charging forward as he raised his carbine. “Weapon’s free!”

The amphitheater descended into chaos as both sides opened up. Tango’s rifle coughed again and again as she struck with deadly precision...when Whisper came bursting up out of the ground and leapt into the enemy horde, his blades flashing as he cut through the ranks like a berserk chainsaw.

“Where is Chugaz!” Jiyazh howled with fury, as he staggered out of the choking cloud of smoke.

“Does anyone have eyes on?” Musashi demanded, speaking into his mic when the whine of turbines whipped his head around. The shuttle lifted off and clawed its way into the sky, disappearing in a flash, as he snarled in impotent rage.

“Damn it...the bastard escaped.”

Chugaz hissed in pain as he slapped a dressing on his wound. The blade had cut deep into his chest but had missed the vital organs by mere fractions. It had not been the killing blow Jiyazh had hoped for but even blinded Chugaz knew his opponent had gained the upper hand. At that point, his death was all but inevitable, except that he had planned for this possibility. The grenades had camouflaged his getaway, buying enough time to board the shuttle and launch before anyone realized what happened.

Now to finish it, once and for all.

Nassat charged through the smoke, firing his sidearm, as they fought to take the amphitheater. The enemy was faltering, but there were several pockets of resistance holding firm, making them pay for every meter of ground. Sergeant Lin laid down a base of fire, driving them back, as Nassat leapt over a low wall and breached their defenses.

“Forward!” he shouted, firing once more before his weapon clicked on an empty chamber. An explosion knocked him off his feet, leaving him dazed, as a squad of Khonhim appeared out of nowhere and counterattacked, driving his allies back. He struggled to reload, but his movements were disjointed and uncoordinated. Nassat could only stare as they advanced, though as he watched a warrior’s head exploded in a fountain of orange gore, cut down by Tango’s sniper rifle. Another joined his comrade in death as they surged forward, but he was slow to respond, his brain and body numbed by the blast’s concussion.

Whisper slashed his way through a cluster of Khonhim like a scythe, fighting to get clear, his body spattered with alien blood, but there was no way he’d get clear in time. There had been a time, long ago, when he would have submitted to his fate, bowing his head and baring his neck as he waited for the end...but that individual no longer existed. Instead, he faced his enemy with open eyes, as Death came to claim him at last.

Something slammed into him, knocking him clear, as a furious burst of weapons fire echoed nearby. By sheer happenstance his fingers closed around a fresh magazine, slapping it into his pistol with practiced ease as he staggered back to his feet, searching for a target.

But as he looked around in amazement, there was none to be found.

Chugaz stormed onto the bridge of Resolve, throwing himself into his command chair. “Target the amphitheater on the planet’s surface, and fire,” he ordered.

The tactical officer stared at him as if he did not comprehend his words. With a wordless scream, he yanked out his sidearm and pointed it at his head. “Do as I command!” he howled...as Azhum Ganakh’s face flashed onto the display.

“...when two combatants enter the field of honor, only one may leave it alive,” Azhum said, “yet Jiyazh Ghuuyaz still lives.” His glare was impassive as he gazed at Chugaz. “How can this be, Dhyaksh?” he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“A detail I am rectifying,” he shot back, only realizing how it might look with his weapon drawn and pointed at the crew. He slid it back into its holster, but Azhum was just getting started.

“You would bombard your opponent, in a contest where only the steel of a blade is permitted?” Azhum sneered in disapproval. “You escaped justice on the planet’s surface by violating our most sacred traditions...and in doing so, revealed your true nature.” Raising his hand, he pointed at Chugaz. “I declare you a coward, and unfit to bear the title Dhyaksh...for only a warrior may claim that authority.”

“You insignificant insect,” Chugaz hissed, as he leapt to his feet. “You think to judge me? I, who have given you the victory Jiyazh could not? I should have dealt with you long ago.”

“Victory?” Azhum scoffed. “What victory? The Triumvirate worlds lie untouched. Your words are empty, and without meaning.” His nostrils flared as he glared at him from the display. “As worthless and threadbare as your honor.”

“ENOUGH!” Chugaz’ hands clenched in fists of rage. “You will submit to my authority, or you will die!”

“Then I die with honor,” Azhum said in contempt, as his face disappeared from the screen.

In all his years, Chugaz had never known wrath like he felt at that moment. He grasped the tactical officer and threw him to the deck, his fist slamming into the console as he triggered a missile launch.

“Kill them! All that oppose us!” he shrieked...as the fleet began to tear itself apart.

Flames licked the ancient structure, as Nassat stumbled over the body of a Khonhim warrior. The survivors of the brief battle looked to one another, exhausted and disoriented, as they struggled to regroup. Musashi made his way over to join him, shaking his head in resignation as they watched Whisper posing the dead enemy in some twisted tableau. Jiyazh spotted his actions and advanced on the maniac, with murder in his eyes, as Whisper raised his hands in supplication and backed away...giggling as he did so.

“You all right, Sir?” Musashi asked, tearing his eyes away from the bizarre scene.

Nassat nodded. “I was certain the end had come at last, but…” He froze for a moment, as a confused expression came over his face. “In fact, I am unsure how I survived.”

Musashi didn’t respond, as Nassat looked at him with a furrowed brow. “Are you all right?” he asked.

“…I think I know,” he said.

“Know what?” Nassat asked, more confused than ever.

“How you survived,” he somehow got out…as he stepped aside to reveal the body of Sergeant Lin.