Free Warlord's Revenge by Zac Harrison Page A

us.”
    “There is no one here to help you,” Ogun sneered, as he climbed in beside her. “Now, take me to your library unless you wish to taste Ogun’s anger.” Turning back to the droids, he yelled, “Alpha platoon, come with me! Beta platoon, escort the scholars to the hall of assembly. Keep them there until we’re ready to leave.”
    Fifteen soldier droids climbed into the hoverbus. With shaking hands, Aristil leaned forward and touched the controls. The craft turned and flashed across the meadow.
    Inside the pyramid, John gazed at a sea of shocked, angry faces. “I’ve seen enough,” he said. “Let’s deal with the droids first, and then we’ll go after Ogun.”

Chapter 10
    As the soldier droids began pushing scholars towards the remaining hoverbus, John saw Deem pull his fist back for a blow. Socrat clutched at his arm before the Derrilian could throw the punch. Even so, the closest droid smashed Deem in the chest with the butt of its laser rifle. “Resistance will be met with extreme force,” it droned.
    “I’ll show you extreme force,” growled the Scholar, lunging forward.
    “No, Deem, you’ll only make things worse,” Socrat panted, hanging onto the Derrilian’s arm. “Use your logic. There are too many of them. Get on the hoverbus.”
    Metal legs clanked as the droids moved forward again, herding the terrified scholars like sheep.
    John lifted his hand – the signal to advance. Without looking back, he sprinted through the open portal of Kerallin’s pyramid ship. Sixteen students followed on the ground. Spreading his wings, Kaal took to the sky.
    Keeping his eyes fixed on the fifteen soldier droids, John’s mind worked furiously. Don’t turn around. Please don’t turn around , he repeated to himself over and over, as his heart pumped pure adrenalin. Keeping low and silent, he pounded across the meadow.
    John’s wishes were answered. None of the droids turned. None saw the attack coming. John screamed, “NOW!” Still yelling, he launched a flying kick. His foot smashed into a droid’s metal back in a roundhouse kick, hurling it forward to crash face-first into the grass. Instantly, it tried to rise. John threw himself onto the robot’s back, trying to keep it pinned to the ground.
    Beneath him, metal shifted.
    It began to rise.
    Kaal’s instructions came back to him in a flash: “Grab any wires you see and rip them out.”
    As the robot struggled to get up, John spotted a gap where its head was connected to its neck. Inside was a thick bundle of wires. Reaching down, he grabbed at them.
    John pulled with all his strength. Sparks flew. With a fizzing noise, the robot thrashed, almost spearing John on its spiked armour. Then, its power spent, it collapsed.
    “One down!” John shouted. Around him chaos had broken out. Several droids had been toppled in the first wave of the attack. As John watched, Raytanna reached out and disconnected a droid’s energy conduits with expert fingers. It slumped.
    Kaal’s tactic was ruthlessly efficient. Wings powering him down from the sky, he took a droid by the head and swooped upward again, the struggling robot dangling beneath him. A hundred metres in the air, he let go. The robot’s arms beat at the air for a moment, as if it were trying to fly, then it smashed into the ground, its body wrecked beyond any repair.
    By now, though, the droids had had time to organize against the sudden assault. As John watched, the remaining robots fell back into a defensive line. Tossing Queelin to one side like a rag, one more droid rose to its feet and joined the line.
    Laser rifles levelled at the students.
    John felt his stomach sink. The attack had failed. The students had no chance against laser fire.
    “LOOK OUT! ”
    John’s jaw dropped open, as a hoverbus zoomed across the grass and slammed into the line of droids, sending metal bodies sprawling.
    Behind the controls, Lishtig punched the air.
    A ragged cheer went up from the students and the