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- Hey! Iilfan! What's the matter? - Yuri cried in horror.
Ernaltsev saw with his own eyes how the warrior fell to the floor. She was still alive, but apparently her body was severely damaged in the battle. It was just that Iilfan carefully concealed her injuries. Apparently, she suffered a lot from these cybernetic creatures.
- Hey! The psionic shouted again, "Are you okay?" In order?
- Yes, yes ... - a faint voice of the warrior was heard, - Just .... Patted me ...
Yuri immediately rushed to the lying maiden. His eyes almost fell out of their sockets. He bent over her, trying to find any grievous wound. Her armor was crumpled in a fierce battle. Ernalltsev just now noticed that almost all of her armor was badly cracked.
- Bones are broken…. Inside ... .. - Iilfan whispered, - But it doesn't matter. Farrukh's body recovers in a day ... .. In this we are similar ... .. to Elfurr .... A little bit.
- You'd better talk less, - Yuri said excitedly, - I'll try to scan what you have. Maybe it's not too serious.
He was still trying to find the external wounds. He was seriously alarmed by the abundance of blood on the armor of his companion. But the blood stuck to the shreds of armor did not belong to the Farrukh agent. She remained there from the exploded cyborg.
“Bones are broken in many places,” the warrior replied, “I can feel them.
- I'll carry you out of here! - did not calm down the psi-adept, - We will find a ship and fly into orbit. It is clear that we cannot cope with such forces. I will take you to the nearest system…. To the doctors!
Iilfan smiled faintly. She was deeply touched by the care of the Hyperborean, who bent over her like a surgeon over a patient during a difficult operation. Yuri spoke encouraging words to her. But she knew perfectly well that it would not be possible to fly off the planet. Zabergan has almost completely passed into the hands of a mysterious enemy. We can only hope for a miracle.
- Yuri ... .. - Iilfan's timid voice was heard, - I didn’t speak. Sorry. I couldn't.
- What is not allowed? What are you! - said Ernalltsev to this.
- Not…. No ... .. - continued the foreign woman, - I did not have permission ... ... from General Chow .... But now I have to tell you ... .. I had to immediately .... Truth…. But I didn't have permission ... .. Chow forbade me to divulge it. Sorry….
Yuri perked up nervously. He tried his best to understand what exactly his companion was talking about.
- What are you talking about ... .. - said the psionic quietly, - Everything is in order ... .. No need to ask for forgiveness.
“I know who attacked us,” Iilfan said breathlessly.
And then it finally dawned on the Ernallets. All this uprising on Zabergan did not resemble an ordinary coup. As it turned out, the mysterious Grigarovich was nothing more than a pawn. The mutiny began with him, but ended with a full-scale invasion of unknown machines. Machines guided by the no less mysterious and mysterious Tulotron. Probably Tulotron was one of the leaders of the enemy army. But there was also something else.
When Yuri woke up on the lower levels of the building, he met a strange creature without a face. It mentioned a name that was already familiar to him quite clearly. The name is "Marfur-Nirari". He, of course, heard about the actions of this alien sorcerer, but he had no idea that the threat posed by the sorcerer could be so serious. Iilfan was a Farrukh agent, and she obviously knew something, knew much more interesting information about Marfur-Nirari.
- You know…. What…. - Yuri exclaimed in bewilderment, - Who attacked us?
He again remembered the moment with an unknown creature speaking of darkness. And then other memories crept into his head; those related to his dream today. Today Yuri dreamed of how unknown monsters were squeezing him from all sides. The psionic did not see their faces and did not know what they really looked like, but he had never felt such a terrible and terrible threat from anyone. In a dream, he clearly realized that the end would come not only for him, but for all living. He also remembered that when he woke up, he immediately put on his father's amulet. He just knew he had to do it. After all, it will someday save his life.
- He's getting heavy, right? Iilfan's strange question was heard.
Yuri immediately felt how the amulet hanging on his neck seemed to have increased in size. His neck nearly snapped from the tension. This was the first time that had happened to him.
- What's getting heavy? - blurted out Ernalltsev.
- The amulet ... .. - the warrior said to this in the same weak voice, - I have the same .... Under the armor. We are farruh…. We see through the walls ... .. Through the armor ... .. I saw your amulet back then .... On the boat …… He gets heavy, right?
- How did you know?! - the psionic exclaimed in surprise, - How did you know that he is getting heavier?
The amulet twitched again. Yuri again felt an unknown weight. For a moment he thought he had a piece of heavy boulder hanging around his neck.
“It is getting heavier for me too,” Iilfan answered, “It means… .. We faced …… Yuri, what we faced is a threat not only for our countries. And for all life in the galaxy.
- Are you talking about Marfur-Nirari? - Ernalltsev suddenly asked for himself, - I heard this name…. Today. And not from you. When I fell down, I met a strange creature…. It spoke about Marfur-Nirari….
- Quiet! - the warrior cried sharply, and then lowered her voice almost to a whisper, - He can hear .... He always hears when someone says his name…. .Please, do not say it ... ..I beg ... .. He hears the one who does it ... ..
Yuri nodded, realizing that he had made a mistake. The amulet began to seem to him an almost unbearable burden. He really wanted to throw off the amulet from his neck and even trample it. Somewhere in the depths of my soul, a mysterious and strange anger appeared.
“Never take it off,” Iilfan continued. “No matter how heavy it may seem. Don't take off the amulet! No way ... .. Never ... ..
- Who is Marfur-Nirari…. The psi-adept asked barely audibly.
He understood that the warrior was injured, and it was better to give her more time to recover. She didn't need much to say. But Yuri also knew that he could no longer tolerate all these riddles and secrets. He needed to somehow clarify the situation.
- Let me rise a little…. - I heard the faint voice of a foreign woman, - I'll tell you. Just be careful ... The restoration is already underway.
- Yes of course! - the Hyperborean perked up, - Yes! I'll try to get you to your feet.
- Lift me up. And I'll tell you everything.
- What is it? - the bewildered voices of officers were heard from all sides. - Great Gods of Light! For ten years of service, this has not yet been observed!
The crew members were seriously alarmed by the situation. The mysterious enemy has brought in too many ships to fight the combined fleet. The outer space of Zabergan was filled with flying pyramids from all sides. But this armada did not want to go into the attack. This behavior was extremely strange. For the first hours, the members of the Retribution crew could not understand what the matter was. They made thousands of different guesses and assumptions.
Several officers noticed through special tracking devices that the alien ships for unknown reasons had ceased to function. They tried to explain it to Marshal Clotilde and everyone else. The enemy flotilla was simply disabled. In the last minutes, the information has already been officially confirmed. Many of the fighters hoped for a miraculous salvation. They believed that the current situation was nothing more than a divine manifestation. Some thought that the Creator himself decided to intercede for his own offspring and to de-energize the ships of terrible creatures.
Vulich seriously believed that it was the Gods who were the saviors of an entire fleet of allies. Now he looked as joyous as a child. He almost jumped with delight. The commander truly resembled a small child who had just been informed about a trip to the zoo; the hike he'd dreamed of for months.
- I said that prayers will help! - clapping his hands, exclaimed draskovit, - I told you! We just have to believe that they will save us! You just have to believe!
Only Clotilde and Nirani-Rael were still gloomy. Marshal did not leave the feeling of great uneasiness at all. This situation was unnatural. If the alien ships stopped functioning, it meant that someone had used some unknown weapon. It didn't sound like an EMP pulse. Something more perfect was clearly applied here. Or it was all part of the enemy's plan. Clotilde made thousands of guesses in his head, but none of them seemed real to him.
Nirani-Rael was in real chaos in his head. A sharp-eared foreign woman stood on the bridge with her head lowered, immersed in heavy meditation. She ran dozens of possible guesses in her mind. A strange alarm crept into her heart, saying that everything was just beginning. In truth, the elfurrka did not sense any presence of light energies. The enemy fleet ceased to function, but the reason was not at all in the intervention of the Gods.
- It's somehow strange, - Clotilde said in a perplexed voice, scratching his forehead, - Why did they disconnect ... No proper explanation. Someone disabled an entire armada.
- Maybe they chickened out? - heard the voice of one of the officers of the Impeccable Empire.
This tall man in a blue uniform was quite pleased with the situation. He was fully confident that the battle was over. Clotilde had no doubt that this soldier was already making plans to return home. But the marshal was well aware that the battle was far from over.
“Maybe they really were cowardly, my lord? - the soldier repeated his words, - To fight with the Impeccable Empire is akin to destruction. And even more so with you Hyperboreans. Whatever one may say, our powers rule the galaxy.
But Clotilde, with a gesture of a raised hand, stopped the fighting brother.
- We do not know, - the warrior answered with sadness in his eyes, - It is likely that there is something else here.
Nirani-Rael approached the speaking fighters and looked them up and down. The foreign woman was more alarmed than the others. And she clearly did not like the joyful moods of the fighters. The crew clapped their hands too early, and the elfurrka felt that it would soon play a cruel joke on them.
- What if this is some kind of maneuver? - suggested here Nirani-Rael, - This is quite possible. The one who leads them is the genius of stealth. We watched him for a long time. It is possible that he can calculate the coordinates and launch a teleportation beam. What prevents him from entering our ships ... Or ...
Hearing such words, Clotilde shrugged in bewilderment. He was already personally confused in all these assumptions.
- Why does he need our ships? - followed the question of the commander.
“Interception,” replied the Lady Inquisitor. “They've done this to our ships before.
The elfurrka spoke the truth without any exaggeration. She didn't have permission to reveal the whole truth. But she knew for sure and personally saw how Marfur-Nirari knocked out a dozen elfurr corvettes. She felt his incredible power, his truly devilish insatiability. Then she miraculously managed to evacuate.
- When will you, elfurr, cease your silence! Clotilde snarled angrily.
Nirani-Rael wanted to continue her speeches, but the unexpectedness that arose interrupted her train of thought. As if on command, all the monitors displaying the various control functions of the ship quickly began to fade. Many of the operators sitting behind the screens stood up in horror from their seats. They jumped up like crazy, staring at the monitors with crazy eyes. Many of the crew members in a hurry tried to fix computers. But all is unsuccessful. In addition, the atmosphere deteriorated significantly when the bioluminescent lamps built into the ceilings began to blink.
“The central system has completely failed,” the frightened cries of the officers were heard. “The reason is not clear.
Hearing this hopeless information, Clotilde immediately hurried to the nearest screen, which had just turned off. The Marshal was determined to find out the cause of such an incident. The people gathered around Clotilde turned white like snow. Even Vulich instantly removed his smile and looked at his comrades with eyes full of incredible fear. Not a trace of the commander's joy remained.
Running to the first monitor, Clotilde scrutinized it. A second later, the screen lit up again, showing a completely different image. A scarlet figure of some strange humanoid was looking straight at the marshal. She moved in different directions, wiggling her little arms. This phenomenon further alarmed Clotilde, including all the crew members. Entity figurines began to appear rapidly on all monitors located in the bridge room.
And then there was this mysterious mechanical grinding.
- Good evening, - the words were heard from almost everywhere, - My name is Tulotron. And I want to play a little. You want that too, don't you? Truth?
Many officers did not understand at all what they were talking about. It seemed to all of them that they were simply being played out. Such performances were more suitable for young children than for harsh warriors who had seen many battles. Clotilde cracked one of the screens with frantic force, but the image of the creature did not disappear. Obviously, this phenomenon has already encompassed the entire ship. A mysterious enemy used an unknown virus that has already hit the ship.
- I just got into your main controllers, - the same mechanical voice rang out, - and therefore I estimate the probability of your survival at exactly 2 percent.
Marshal felt his anger begin to cloud his consciousness. With furious eyes, he looked at the image of the scarlet creature. He wanted to smash all these computers to pieces with one powerful blow.