Cyber Viking 3

by Marcus Sloss

  “You’re being serious right now? The remaining government voted to use us as a dumping ground and pawns,” Jarod asked, trying to stay calm.

  Two jets flew in from the distance. When I went to turn the shielding on I saw someone already had.

  “If they don’t pull up,” Jevon said.

  A fraction of a second later we both winced.

  The two fighter jets crashed into the shield with balls of flame. They would send something else next. Was I at war with my own race? Hmm…

  “Well shit, I was planning on returning these people home with zinc to help the population. You! General Ryan!” I shouted at one of the men gagged and bound beside Linda. Mitchell hauled him off his feet, dragging him to me. His mouth was freed and I said, “What happens next?”

  “They lob some missiles, which spoiler we’re desperately low on. Then they realize Linda Growlen is gone and they will start plotting her replacement. Oh… never mind, probably already have. That explains why I am the only general here. They blame her, but probably cave and buy zinc through the portal. Linda already did this rotation. I bet they find our stash and pretend they bought it. You know, basic politics,” General Ryan said with a grin.

  “If I let you fly home what happens?” I asked and he gave a frightened look. “Without Linda.”

  “Umm… Politically I am tied to Linda,” he said fidgeting. The stolen glances of longing at Linda Growlen gave him away. Ah, I now understood now how he was tied to her. “So I probably get strung up too. Here they -”

  Two concussive explosions blossomed over our shields. The fireballs erupted in massive plumes. Wow, our shielding for Mansion was epic. Two more missiles raced over our shields. Blue fire lanced at the soaring missiles trying to knock them from the sky. One imploded mid-flight. The other dove to the ground not far from the Xgate.

  I cursed the sight of the explosive cloud. A scowl etching my face. An alert hit my Gpad. TG99 had been hit while heading for Mansion. Five on board, and all were dead. The list was crixxi soldiers. I did not display my sigh of relief. Perci was out there somewhere and we were taking fire in the middle of a day during a golden gate.

  “General Ryan, how many more?”

  “We still have attack helicopters, fighter jets, and other tools. The attack helicopters can't reach here without a refuel point that is not setup. These big lugs are fine, same with the jets. The cruise missiles... we have a hundred left. My guess is -”

  Two more missiles raced from the north. The smashed into the mansion shield.

  “Woah, you can expand the shielding?” General Ryan asked.

  “Add more generators, you get a bigger shield,” Jevon said from my side. “I linked our shields together. We should have done this at the start. Our dome is huge now. Everything in a large circle around our bases is somewhat safe. If they drop nukes…”

  “We don’t have any. The mother ship made them disappear,” General Ryan said with a scoff. Three more missiles slammed into the shields. I heard a radio crackle from inside the chinook. General Ryan looked at me and said, “That is probably for you.”

  I entered the back of the chinook. My body shifted sideways to fit down the side path. I shimmied until I reached a radio that was calling for one Captain Eric Yang. I picked up the mic and smashed the detent.

  “This is Yang.”

  “Ah, finally. We wish to cease hostilities. We have acted in response to your aggression and require our supplies back or we insist we will continue to proceed with our attack.”

  “You do realize I have detailed information on Teton, right? I have an army you can’t stop,” I said letting the sentence hang. “I will make you a deal today. And after this I am shutting off these radios. Are you ready?”

  “I am afraid we cannot deal with terrorists,” the negotiator said.

  “Cool, I will raid your base then. You bring your best. I will bring mine,” I said and waited.

  “This is vice president Sinclair, I have arrived and am being briefed,” Sinclair said as if she just happened to overhear our conversation.

  General Ryan was standing over my shoulder. He commented how Sinclair was a snake but I hollered over him to get me Growlen. Perci entered the side door of the aircraft dragging her mom.

  “What is your offer, Captain Yang?” Sinclair said dropping the terrorist tag at least.

  “We leave you alone, you leave us alone. You destroyed my tank. I trade your chinooks back with a bit of zinc and you never think of raining missiles on my people again. That is a fantastic offer,” I said and Perci frowned. Her mother went to complain.

  “You keep Growlen, Ryan, and the prisoners and you have a deal. Captain Yang. Let me assure you, you may have suddenly sprouted an army, but the US Government is not frightened of you. We will defeat you if we meet on the field of battle. Fortunately for you, we have San Francisco being ravaged by a fanatic claiming the gods of the gates empower him. Know that we are the largest settlement of hidden humans remaining on Earth. Raiding us would remove so much that you fought to protect before the Xgates. That is why, to keep us secure, I will lower myself to dealing with you.”

  “And you get rid of Growlen.”

  “The cherry on the top,” Sinclair said with a joyful tone. There was cheering in the background.

  “Sinclair. You have drones somewhere. I know you do. I also know you’re buying some stuff from the Xgates. I think you’re crazy to shun the grand market,” I said.

  “Oh, don’t you just know it. After a swift defeat by you, in which we regretfully had to retaliate, I have all the justifications I need to get around the pesky senate. My troops, chinooks, and your zinc come back to me. The prisoners, Growlen, Ryan, and crates stay. In exchange, we cease hostilities.”

  “Let me check the crates, really easy to do. Ten minutes tops,” I said leaving the radio. When I turned I stared at almost matching twins of mother and daughter. Perci smiled and her mom scowled. A smile crept on my face when I bounced eyebrows at my lovely lover. “Hey Perci, or are you Linda.”

  I had to run from Perci as she hounded me while dragging her mom.

  “I am dying my hair!” Perci shouted in frustration.

  Jevon stood inspecting the crates, his hands quickly shifting the bars of minerals. He looked up at me and smiled.

  “Eric, they are insane. This is another fortune,” Jevon said, tossing me a bar of yttrium. I let out a long whistle.

  Linda screamed in her rag for attention. I pulled the cloth out of her mouth.

  “We learned from a trader what was valuable early on. This, this is nothing. Not even a drop in the bucket. When you have a stockpiled list of minerals across the globe it is pretty easy to go in, snatch what you need and tuck it away while the world panic,” Linda said with a scoff. “Sinclair is not dumb. She knows this will please you. She had to retaliate when this cat ate two of her people.”

  “Good boy Onix!” Perci said to Onix who lazily watched from RV3’s roof. I sigh escaped Perci’s lips as he inspected the crates. “Well I guess I need to go to Xgate 201.”

  I knew we could have had the working crews dumping old vehicles into the other Xgate. It had been discussed but I set the idea aside mainly because I thought we would have more than enough. Yeah, Perci did need to go to do more shopping. Especially with this much Y. Wait if they had all this.

  “Linda why did you not load up on zinc?” I asked.

  “We were told zinc has a ten percent valuation to some of the rarer metals. Zinc is not some hard to get mineral and was not high on the list,” Linda said with a scoff. “I’m smart Eric, but not all knowing. So we didn’t stash a bunch of it. Now it’s infinitely more dangerous to go looting. The majority of our fleet is out gathering resources. Golden portal time is when we brave the new world.”

  My hands went to my hips and I paced.

  “Where is AC1?” I asked and she shrugged. Longoria raised a hand while approaching.

  “In Aspen my lord,” Longoria said. She was fully
geared now with actual shielding and a rifle. She still held that sword and I was caught eyeing the weapon. “As old as I am, Master, I do like an interested eyeing. But this is an acrium sword. Not very effective but the moment called for something. There are far better melee weapons on the market. Would you like to know more?”

  Perci snickered while I mentally drooled. “You’re going to make him pant with desire you hussie,” Perci said playfully and a wide smile spread on Longoria’s face. “I like your style. Where do you want my mother and what are your orders, your grace?”

  “Isolated and under guard in an Aspen hotel room with General Ryan. You, me and a military escort are going into Aspen for AC1. Mitchell, bring your recon team,” I said, raising my voice for him to hear.

  “Wilco,” he replied, gathering his troops for the platform.

  I turned to a frowning Jevon. “While we’re getting AC1, I need you to load these chinooks up with a quarter of our zinc. The rest fly over to Aspen to load into AC1. The AC1 has its own shield generator so we're flying that into Denver. I need to go make a call saying I accept and then we get to ride the underway! Twice.”

  “What about the prisoners?” Jevon said and I grimaced.

  These were the decisions that sucked as the king. “The murders go see Bonnet. Make it public with a tender last kiss. I want others to know internal feuds are not settled by killing each other. The rest are now prisoners. Assign them to… Nancy. Nancy will get them working.”

  “I will see it done.”

  I jogged for the chinook and Sinclair agreed to our deal. Not like she had a real reason to complain. She was getting everything she wanted.

  We had a few hours until the golden shimmer went down and blue went up. Then eleven days of war. I guess the twelfth day might be more battle unless Teton had bigger problems to deal with then the Bastion Community. I was super excited to ride the underway, I even gave a fist pump as my retinue followed me to the first platform.

  I rubbed my hands together greedily in anticipation of finally riding the train. When I returned to the group the backside of Linda and her general were being loaded onto AH1. Good, that sour bitch could bug someone else. I saw Perci frowning at me while chatting with Longoria. I scooped my little babe up and twirled her. She reached down and kissed my acrium lips.

  Awe. I guess I would need to swap out of armor at some point before the blue started to give the little guys a rest.

  “Are you ready to travel, my lord?” Longoria asked.

  “Most certainly,” I replied in a chipper tone. “So my darling Perci, how are you coping?”

  “At which fact? That we just traded blows with the US government or that you accepted my mom into our home?” Perci said in a pouty tone. She was loving being carried. I pretended to go to set her down. “No my handsome King. You’ll ferry my heiress booty.”

  “The lady’s wish shall be done. I am sorry about your mom. She can be an asset though. Assuming she doesn’t want to hide for a bit.”

  “Yea, at least she has a man now too. Wouldn’t surprise me if she ends up with a reverse harem bigger than ours,” Perci said with a scoff.

  “To be fair, you're the one adding busty virum babes around me without stone,” I mentioned with us arriving at the platform.

  Mitchell was waiting for us chatting with Willow and Sammie. We exchanged pleasantries. Before we boarded the underway I made a call to everyone in the Bastion Community.

  “Dear citizen. There was a brief skirmish that has been resolved. As a precaution we are hunkering behind shields until the next blue zone. The soldiers who were training can stand down. The citizens building to make our home better keep at it. Thank you for your efforts,” I said closing the connection.

  “Got a moment Eric?” Willow asked, bobbing her head to the side. I set Perci down and walked with Willow. When we were far enough away she continued. “Sorry I died in the war game.”

  “I want to giggle, but I am holding it in. Willow, you don’t need to apologize. I died infinite times in battle simulators. I still charge in like a rhino. So, no you’re fine. Now come on, I want to ride the tunnel train.”

  Willow nodded. “Thanks for confirming you’re not secretly upset. I am self-critical at times.”

  “Ha! That is the human in you. Willow, I love you just the way you are.”

  Before she could reply I kept us moving. The platform for the underway from Castle to Mansion was a small box akin to a phone booth. A soldier went in, there was a plunk sound and they were gone. A plop sound would reveal a new booth. I was in line behind Perci who kept stroking Sammie’s ears. Yeah, Perci clearly was not holding in anger that her mother was here. The two small ladies crammed into a booth only to vanish a moment later.

  My turn. The next opening arrived. Oh, the space was roomier than I anticipated. My frame fit in easily and I waved bye to Willow who was next.

  The booth dove into the earth feet first. The trip transitioned into a horizontal ride as we accelerated. While I wished for some cool views I understood I was flying through tunneling. The speed was incredible. Even the slight turns felt like I was on a rollercoaster. I enjoyed every moment of the thrill. I was hollering for joy when suddenly I was outside not far from the barn. I wanted to ride it again!

  My team was waiting on the next platform. I stepped off and my booth shot down. Willow plopped up a moment later. We waited for the last of our group before getting in a booth the size of a small bedroom.

  “Did you enjoy the ride?” Mitchell asked with a smirk.

  “Yeah, excited for this next bit,” I said eagerly.

  The dozen of us loaded up without being too tight. The booth doors slid shut and we shot down. There never was a tipping point or egregious acceleration. I felt like I was in a larger elevator moving sideways after an initial drop. A minute into the ride bright lights flickered on for the exterior. We were attached to a rail system that was suddenly inside a huge cavern.

  The illuminated space revealed an eerily calm black pool of water. There was nothing besides black being shone upon. The space was massive in its size and I was startled by the scope of this place.

  “I lived underground for a thousand years. In a place somewhat similar to this. We hid and thrived. Eventually, I was deemed replaceable and I was sold again,” Longoria said evenly. “I… I don’t know if I miss the peaceful darkness or that I had to live like that.”

  “Mounamine are very used to subterranean dwellings. We prefer the underground for our nesting. There is a lot to be said about the protection of being under hundreds of feet of dirt,” Sammie mentioned. “And before you ask. Homes are nice. If you build a base underground, then yes we would welcome it, but no need to build us a special residence area. It would segregate us, and we have done that. Trust me when I say living around those who protect you lets them empathize with your perils. Assuming they have empathy.”

  The underwater lake vanished and the lights turned off. I was shocked that it was down here. Teton Fortress was under the earth. They had not even had to fight to survive. I guess that was a very solid retreating plan. Get a bunker to hide in if things went bad. Return when the blue goes away. The thought resonated with me. If we angered a divine-ape type creature a tunnel to a hideout was a decent option. So much to do, so little time to do it with.

  “Hey Perci, with these new funds. What are your plans?” I asked.

  “Builders, we need builders and additional mining machines. Mitchell asked for sleds, but that is the only military request I have. We had some funds and the new infusion will be fantastic. Eric the minerals they brought are raw bars in crates. Basically a hundred electronic might equal one of those bars. We can afford a lot. I want a sluggero maybe but there are only so many auctions. So probably try for one of those to help establish our machinery and give a second opinion on our building plans,” Perci said and Longoria raised a hand. “Yes, dear?”

  “We need masonry machines. I will get them. Mining crushes and creates rubble to
get to the minerals. While you had foresight and we have a few that do small bricks, I know what we need. The timeline on the castle will drastically go down,” Longoria said. “And I want to get Master a sword. The best protectors have a melee weapon.”

  “Why is that?” Willow asked.

  “There are melee weapons meant to push through armor. Shielding stops a lot, then encasing, and then physical exterior. A crab man.” The translator struggled. Longoria eyed the device with sour eyes. “They can withstand a lot in armor and shielding. They see poorly from above. You jet pack in, drop down, and use an empowered blade.”

  “You make it sound so easy,” Mitchell said with a slight chuckle.

  “Trees?” I opined.

  “Maybe four more but that is it. We go to war very soon. The last of this shopping with be a frantic rush home,” Perci said to others nodding.

  “Which is why Eric didn’t want to do last minute shopping,” Willow said from my side. “Ah we’re here.”

  The tunnel cab stopped our sideways motion and lifted us to the Aspen platform. The exit was near a four-lane road with extensive bricked walkways. Decorative fountains, fancy overhangs, and infinite balconies gave the area a very open feeling. A market was set up not far in an old downtown extra width walkway. Neatly arranged trees split the buildings earthy tones; their spring bloom brightening the area.

  Not far in a park rested AC1. AH1 was shifting supplies into the behemoth transport. I was tempted to browse the market. My curiosity was piqued over what they were using as a trading currency. Alas, I was tugged by wonderful Willow. Her sour attitude from earlier was wiped away from the fancy town.

  “I love the feel of Aspen?” Willow mentioned, clinging to my arm.

  “I am taken back every time I visit to better times. My inner soldier sees all the vulnerabilities to the defense here,” I said taking in the rows of alleys and walking paths. “Funny how many people live here over Mansion.”

  “Not anymore, if you are counting everyone as people,” Sammie said with a sly smile.