The Subo reared up, preparing to charge the three students.
Suddenly, a laser beam exploded from the Subo’s deadly horn. John tried to leap out of the way, but the laser caught his sleeve. Before John had a chance to recover, another battle cry filled the air.
Kaal shrieked as he tore past his friends in a blur of frantically beating wings.
“Kaal, NO! It’ll kill you!” Emmie yelled.
The Derrilian ignored Emmie’s terrified shout. Diving to avoid the Subo’s laser-horn, he closed in on the beast, his yell mixing with the howling of the alien warrior.
Kaal hit just below its bulbous head, where its thick neck widened into powerful shoulders. The force of the blow toppled the Subo. Its massive bulk fell into the water, a muddy wave drenching John and Emmie.
Kaal dived on the Subo like a hawk attacking its prey. Wrapping strong arms around its neck, he sank his sharp fangs into the Subo’s blubbery flesh.
A howl of pain ripped through the air. Bucking and thrashing beneath him, the Subo tried to bring its horn round to stab its attacker. The laser began firing randomly, bursts of burning light slamming into the force field wall close to John and Emmie.
“Get down!” Emmie commanded, pulling John into the mud.
Another flash of laser fire hit an Omega-bot behind them. The droid cracked and fizzled, its metal casing spitting sparks. The energy wall flickered and then stabilized again.
The Subo was bigger and heavier than Kaal, but the tall, heavily muscled Derrilian was much faster and his thick, green arms were strong. He also had the advantage of flight. Every time the Subo lunged at him, Kaal flew beyond the warrior’s reach and then dived back to attack again.
With a grunt of effort, Kaal grabbed the Subo’s laser-horn with one hand and clamped his legs around the warrior’s back. Lying in the mud, John watched helplessly as his friend grappled with the warrior, his face showing the strain.
There was a sharp crack and a spray of sparks. The laser-horn snapped. Shouting in triumph, Kaal raised it high and plunged the deadly tip into the Subo’s flesh.
A hideous screech of rage filled the air. “I’ll tear you apart!” raged the Subo. Screaming in agony, it erupted beneath the Derrilian, thrashing to rid itself of its rider.
Kaal was forced to leap away before he was crushed beneath the Subo’s weight, but the warrior’s head smashed into Kaal’s stomach as he jumped.
John gasped as Kaal was thrown into the water. His friend fell forward, face down into the swirling, frozen lake.
The Subo’s scream of pain turned to one of conquest as it saw its enemy helpless. Twisting its bulk around, it reared once again.
“No you don’t, you ugly freak.”
A large chunk of ice smashed into the Subo’s head just above its eyes.
“He shoots, he scores!” John shouted wildly, desperate to keep the Subo’s attention away from the motionless Kaal. Reaching down, his fingers found another block of ice. He threw it with all his strength, dancing from one foot to another as it shattered against the creature’s snout.
With Kaal forgotten, the Subo turned its bulk toward John. “Tiny creature,” it said, sneering. “You won’t last ten seconds against one of General Klort’s elite warriors.”
Despite its tough words, John noticed that the Subo was moving slower now, black blood pumping from the wound in its shoulder where Kaal had stabbed it. Roaring a battle cry, the beast charged at him.
“Think you can take both of us?” Another chunk of ice hurtled through the air, smacking into the Subo’s blubbery neck. Following John’s lead, Emmie was throwing whatever she could lay her hands on.
Confused, the creature’s head weaved from side to side, trying to watch both its new enemies at once as they waded toward it, hurling lumps of ice and rock.
The Subo threw itself toward John, forcing him to stagger backward until his back was almost against the force field. Seeing the danger, Emmie renewed her attack. Her missiles bounced off the Subo’s skin. Still it charged, straight toward John.
“Don’t worry about me, help Kaal!” John yelled at Emmie. He looked in the mud for something, anything, to throw.
The Subo dodged as John rained chunks of ice upon it with all his strength. John’s fingers were throbbing with cold, his strength dwindling, but by aiming at the creature’s tiny eyes and keeping up a constant barrage, he managed to hold off the Subo. Behind it, he saw Emmie shaking Kaal back to consciousness and dragging the Derrilian to his feet.
“Kaal, take Emmie. Fly!” he yelled, slipping on the mud.
Seeing John fall, the Subo again charged forward. “Now you are mine!” it bellowed, its great bulk cutting off John’s view of his friends.
John tried to wriggle backward, one hand searching for something else to throw. His fingers closed around a small rock.
Panic rising, John flung his arm back, taking aim. Just then, Kaal hit the Subo like a green comet, pounding a fist into its head.
Still clutching his rock, John ran toward Emmie, eyes widening in shock as he realized the stasis cube had now melted completely. Every warrior was free, the combat more intense than ever.
“Cut them down, soldiers of Suboran!” screeched General Klort. “Cut them down and history will never forget your names.”
Soldiers were spreading toward them. With a sinking heart, John realized that they might, possibly, be able to defeat one Subo between the three of them, but within a few minutes hundreds of Subo — and Goran too — would be right on top of them.
He looked back. The Omega-bots hadn’t moved an inch.
There’s nothing we can do.
John’s fingers tightened around the rock, preparing to rejoin the fight. Its shape jogged something in the back of his mind. Whatever he was holding wasn’t a rock.
Glancing down, he wiped away some mud.
The Comet Creative.
Emmie must have dropped it when she attacked the Subo.
John stared at the technology in his hand, his brain whirring. The small machine had caused this disaster. Perhaps it could fix it too. His own knowledge of advanced technology was pitiful, but Kaal spent many evenings in their dorm room tinkering with whatever bits of technology he could lay his hands on.
John knew what he had to do. Through knee-deep water, he quickly waded back toward the Subo.
The creature was standing on stubby back flippers, snaking from side to side as it tried to land a blow on Kaal. The Derrilian was swooping about its head, lashing out with his fists and feet whenever he saw a chance.
When John reached the Subo, he leaped from the ground, aiming a flying kick at the warrior from behind.
The creature whirled. “You were lucky before!” it screamed, spotting John. “But not this time.”
“What are you doing? I’m okay. Get out of here!” Kaal yelled as the creature shifted its bulk to attack John again. Its movements were much slower now, but the huge creature was still dangerous.
“I can take care of it!” John yelled back. “See if you can do anything with this.”
The Comet Creative spun through the air. With a flurry of wings, Kaal dived sideways and snatched it. John was already stumbling backward through the water, tossing more chunks of ice and rock at the Subo.
“You call yourself an elite warrior?” he shouted. “I’ve seen better fighters on kindergarten playgrounds.”
With a grunt, the Subo summoned what was left of its strength, charging John with unexpected speed.
John looked up into a massive jaw edged with knife-like teeth. Dropping to the ground and rolling away, John splashed through water and jumped back onto his feet by the Subo’s side, reaching out for the laser-horn that was still sticking out of the warrior’s skin. With a fleshy, sucking noise, it came free, making the Subo scream in pain. Black blood spattered across John’s face.
The Subo writhed in pain. John risked a glance toward Kaal. Close to the Omega-bot barrier where the water was more shallow, the Derrilian worked on the Comet Creative with his ToTool.
Raising his new weapon, John prepared to throw himself at the Subo again.
“John! Be careful!” A rock hurtled through the air. Emmie. It missed the Subo and clattered behind John.
She’s got a great throwing arm, but really bad aim.
The thought was interrupted by a low snarl. Heart frozen, John spun around. A Goran was staring at him through one great eye in the middle of its shell. Between huge pincers it held the rock Emmie had thrown.
For a single moment everything was still. Then the Goran opened its pincers, letting the rock fall into the water that swirled around its short, heavily armored legs. “You are not a part of the Goran army, small alien,” it said. “Therefore, you must be with the Subo. You are my enemy.”
At the same time, John heard a roar behind him. He spun around again. Blood dripping from its wound, the Subo glared at him with hatred in its eyes. It seemed so intent on revenge against John that it had forgotten its original enemy.
John looked from one alien to another.
“RUN, JOHN!” Emmie screamed.
The sound drove both creatures into action. The ground beneath John’s feet rumbled as they rushed toward him.
Running was useless. John was caught between two terrifying aliens, his only weapon a broken laser-horn.
Emmie shouted again, her voice cracking with a sob of fear.
Neither alien took any notice. Both were focused on their prey. They knew it could not escape.
John squared his shoulders.
Might as well go down fighting, he thought.
Trapped between the oncoming warriors, he brandished the laser-horn in the air. On one side, the Subo reared up again; on the other, the Goran’s huge pincers reached out to tear him apart.
John stood his ground. “Come on!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.
The Goran was closer. Leaving himself open to attack from the Subo on the opposite side, John swung the laser-horn with all his might. It smashed into the alien beast’s pincer with a sharp crunching noise. The tip of its claw snapped off and flew into the mud.
John yelled in jubilation as the creature shrieked in pain.
His moment of triumph was short-lived. One pincer was damaged but the Goran had plenty more. It leaped at John, claws clacking in fury. At the same time the Subo fell upon him, its mouth roaring for revenge. It was so near, John could smell its foul breath.
He tried swinging his weapon again. It was no good — the aliens were right on top of him. Instinctively, he ducked and squeezed his eyes closed as a giant claw thrust at him. The shrieking Subo snapped at his head.
John steeled himself for what was to come. He hoped it would be quick.
This is it.