by Jim Roberts
Fine with me, she thought as she lowered herself down to DECK B-2. She’d been delayed in her movement by increased Olympus troop activity, forcing her to be mindful of her steps. After moving further into the AC shaft, Orchid finally discovered the correct route to the Water Ingress Control (or WIC) center. Sitting square on the bottom of the Titan’s hull were massive ballast tanks which allowed the vessel to maintain its buoyancy. While they were nominally controlled from the bridge, Lennox had told her that the Titan also had a secondary control system in the WIC center, where the bridge’s ballast control could be bypassed in an emergency.
As there was no chance Orchid could assault the bridge on her own, this was the only real option to bring the Titan to the surface for the attack to take place.
The sound of moving machinery became louder the deeper she went until it was positively deafening. She followed the directions given to her by Lennox to the letter until she found herself at the end of the duct. Through the grate, she saw she was about five feet off ground level, overlooking a huge engineering bay.
This is it. The layout was exactly as Lennox described for the WIC center. She counted four technicians milling about the area, as well as two Centurions guarding the hatch leading into the bowels of Deck B-2.
She noted one of the technicians swiping a small device over a panel by the hatch leading out of the bay. The electronically sealed hatch opened wide for the man as he left the area.
Some sort of key fob.
She’d noticed others using the small objects while sneaking throughout the ship. They seemed to be some sort of universal passkey. She reminded herself to pick one up, just in case.
Time to get to work.
Without the shroud, Orchid knew she was going to have to make some noise. Withdrawing her MP7A1, she took several deep breaths. Closing her eyes, she focused her mind and prepared for the fight.
Everyone’s relying on you, Yuanza. Don’t let them down…
Her eyes snapped open.
She kicked the grate off its hinges and lunged into the room, her MP7 blazing…
* * *
THE PROVING ground Titus mentioned was really little more than a training dojo. As Joe was forcibly pushed into the space, he was immediately struck with the height of its obsidian painted bulkheads. Dotted here and there on the walls were multiple cameras; for what purpose, Joe had no idea. While the dojo took up only a marginal bit of space on the Titan, it scaled at least three decks in height. Along the walls were racks and racks of all manner of weaponry from around the world—from Japanese katanas to Nepalese khukuri knives.
And finally, about twenty feet from the padded floor, built into the bulkhead, was a small balcony, barely large enough for three people.
Well, they certainly thought of everything on this thing, Joe thought, rubbing his arm. The bloody needle marks left on his bicep by the failsafe device were still leaking. His heart was pounding from the hefty shot of adrenaline they’d stuck him with before leaving him in the darkened Proving ground. Despite the loss of blood, he felt wide awake now.
“Nice you could join me, Braddock.”
Looking to his left, Joe saw the voice came from Agrippina. The Olympus assassin had been stripped of her weapons, leaving her with her black combat suit.
“Looks like your little reunion didn’t go as planned,” Joe said, snidely.
“Joke all you want, it doesn’t matter. We’re both about to die.”
As she said that, a sound from above them drew Joe’s attention to the tiny raised balcony. He saw Titus come out, followed closely by Jade and the Vorena woman. Her hands manacled behind her, Jade tried to fight against Vorena’s grip, but the gun held against her throat forced her to comply. From the balcony, Titus looked out over the so-called Proving ground, resting a hand on the guardrail.
“So here your path has led you, Braddock. Here the line of Honorius ends with your death.”
“You’re certifiable, you know that, asshole?” Joe shouted back.
“To think today would see the death of Jackson Walsh,” Titus said, his voice echoing through the dojo, “Now you too will die, while your bitch woman and my Brotherhood watch.” He gestured to the cameras mounted above them along the walls.
The Centurions guarding Joe and Agrippina left the Proving grounds. The cold sound of the hatch locking told Joe there was no way out.
“The rules are simple,” Titus declared, “Fight and survive. But don’t worry…you won’t.”
Joe looked at Agrippina. Her multicolored eyes told him to prepare for the worst.
The hatchway opposite them slid open.
A man stepped into the room, drenched in shadow. Stepping into the light, he stood still and silent for a moment, for all to see.
Joe’s breath caught in his throat.
It was Danny.
Danny Callbeck.
Only…it wasn’t.
Danny’s handsome face was recognizable, but he now wore a pair of mirrored glasses with the temples missing. Joe noticed Danny’s left arm had been replaced with an artificial limb. His entire body was decked out in shimmering combat armor that seemed to reflect the cool LED lights of the dojo. Danny appeared much taller than Joe remembered, as he stood like a statue—radiating sheer strength from every square inch of his body.
There was not a single sign of emotion in Danny’s once passionate face. Not even a glimmer of recognition for his old comrade.
Fearsome memories of Prometheus, the Olympus super soldier crafted from the dead body of Jackson Walsh’s son, came to Joe’s mind.
My brother…what have they done to you?
From above them, Titus announced, “I introduce to you, Orion, the pride of Olympus!”
Joe called out to his friend, “Danny! It’s me, Joe!”
Orion said nothing as he slowly walked toward the two companions.
“Danny!” Joe tried again.
“It’s no use, Braddock!” Agrippina said, “He’s completely controlled by the Stream. Nothing we do can make him snap out of it.” The woman rushed over to the weapon racks along the side of the room. Selecting a Japanese katana sword, she flourished it before moving into an En garde stance.
Orion reached behind his back and withdrew a cylindrical object. Pressing a switch on the device, it sprang forward on both ends into a vicious looking quarterstaff.
“Braddock, get ready!” Agrippina said, flourishing her blade. She slowly inched toward the approaching Orion, eyes never leaving her foe. “I don’t want to do this, Callbeck, but if I have to, I will open you up from stem to sternum!”
There was a moment of stillness between the two combatants—as if time itself paused to prepare for the coming battle.
Joe watched, scarcely breathing. His eyes flicked up to see Jade watching too, her face tight with concern.
Then, with a speed not capable of a human, Orion bolted toward Agrippina. Letting out a battle cry, she met the attack full on. Her sword rang against the quarterstaff in a shower of sparks.
The fight was on.
The sounds of weapons striking filled the arena, echoing off the high walls.
It only took a few seconds of sparing to tell Joe that Agrippina was nowhere near a match for the high-powered soldier in their midst. The cyborg moved with dizzying speed. If they were going to bring Orion down, they’d have to work as a team.
Seeing an opening, Braddock braced himself, then lunged at Orion—hitting the cyborg square across the face with a strong right cross.
He may as well have been hitting a brick wall.
Orion turned his attention to Joe. The quarterstaff smacked a hard blow to his jaw that sent Braddock reeling backwards, blood spraying from his mouth. Agrippina leapt forward, re-engaging the super-soldier from the side. Orion met the attack like he’d seen it coming a mile away.
Testing his jaw to make sure it wasn’t broken, Joe snatched up a side-handle steel baton from the weapon rack. Readying it, he thrust out at Orion, hoping to spli
t the cyborg’s focus between him and Agrippina.
The cyborg blocked the attack with such ease, it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head. Grasping Joe by the arm, Orion sent him flying backwards to crash into the weapon rack, momentarily stunning him.
As soon as his lungs learned to breathe again, Joe realized there was something highly unusual about the way Danny was fighting. The ease with which he blocked attacks, as if seeing them before they were even thrown. He seemed to preempt strikes before counterattacking them.
It dawned on Joe that Orion—Danny, was fighting blind.
His others senses must have been honed to such a degree—by the Stream or whatever else they’d done to him—that he was capable of standing toe to toe with an adversary with no ill effect. In fact, Orion was already kicking their collective asses.
“Aggy, he’s blind! Use that against him if you can!” As Joe shouted the observation to the assassin, he saw Orion stride toward him, quarterstaff ready to knock his head off.
Joe swallowed.
Then again, they may not get the chance.
* * *
ORCHID RUSHED over to the main controls of the Water Ingress Control Center, stepping over the bodies of the Olympus techs and Centurions. The element of surprise had served the Peacemaker well, as she’d managed to take down the room’s occupants with a minimum of fuss.
She keyed the mic in her helmet, “Commander Lennox, this is Orchid, come in.”
“This is Lennox, go ahead.”
“The WIC center is secured. I’m at the secondary ballast control right now.”
“Excellent. First, you need to disable the bridge override.”
Lennox quickly guided Orchid through the complicated series of instructions required to deactivate the Bridge’s capability of overriding the ballast control.
With that done, Lennox said, “Good. Now all you need to do is expel the ballast tanks.”
Following the instructions, Orchid keyed the orders into the terminal. A flashing EXECUTE command appeared on the screen.
Something caught Orchid’s eye. On one of the overhead monitors, similar to those she’d seen strewn throughout the hallways and other floors of the Titan, was a very strange scene playing out. She saw what appeared to be Agrippina and two other men battling one another in some sort of training room.
“What the hell?” Orchid said out loud. As she studied the image, it didn’t take long to recognize the other two other combatants.
Danny.
Joe.
Orchid keyed her mic, “Lennox, I found Joe!”
“Where is he, Orchid?”
“I can’t tell…it’s some sort of training room or dojo—”
“That’s the Proving grounds.”
Before Orchid could speak further, an unnerving alarm blared over the Titan’s intercom, followed by a canned female voice.
“Intruder alert, we have an alert on Level B-2. All available security forces to Level B-2.”
Exactly two seconds after that, the door leading into the WIC slammed open. A duo of Centurions burst into the room, weapons up.
Well, there goes the surprise.
Orchid held out the MP7 and fired. The burst caught the two men square in the helmets, exploding their brains across the bulkhead.
With no more time on her side, Orchid slammed her hand down on the gestural interface. The EXECUTE key flared brightly.
There was a loud mechanical groan from somewhere within the belly of the Titan as the ballast tanks ejected their contents.
Before escaping back to the safety of the air ducts, Orchid fished out a key fob from the nearest dead technician. Finished, she climbed back into the duct, right before she felt the Titan lurch into an uncontrollable ascent.
Keying the microphone a final time, she said, “Ballast tanks have been set to expel. The Titan’s on its way up!”
“Good job, Orchid.” Lennox’s voice came through over the comm, “The strike force is almost on top of you!”
“Joe’s in trouble, Commander,” Orchid said, moving her body hand-over-foot into the ducts leading to the levels above, “Tell me how to get to this Proving ground...”
* * *
TO SAY the fight was going poorly was an understatement. Joe’s face was swollen from the hits he’d taken attempting to bring down Orion. Blood mixed with sweat on his brow where he’d been dealt another violent strike with the quarterstaff.
Orion practically moved with the speed of light. Everything Joe and Agrippina attempted was quickly turned around and used against them. Somehow, the flaw of his blindness only enhanced Orion’s skills.
From above them, watching with aplomb, Titus called down, “Enough toying, finish them, Orion!”
The super-soldier unleashed a furious set of blows against Agrippina. The dark-haired assassin met the assault as best she could, but it was for naught. Her katana was knocked aside, forcing her to switch to jiu-jitsu. Her suit allowed for great freedom and flexibility, but even its power was waning in the face of the far superior adversary. Turning aside Agrippina’s defense, Orion thrust out an arm and gripped her by the throat. In one smooth maneuver, he choke-slammed her directly into the floor. Her body was driven a half foot through the deck.
Agrippina gasped as blood flew from her mouth and nose.
Joe charged the super-soldier with a diving tackle. He connected, but the sheer strength of Orion rendered the attack moot. Dropping the quarterstaff, Orion encircled his arms around Joe’s midsection, lifted him up and power-bombed him into the ground beside Agrippina.
All air shot from Joe’s chest. He could almost swear his back was broken. Gasping for breath, he dodged aside as Orion thrust a chromium boot aimed at his head, intent on crushing it.
It was then when the alarms went off.
A voice over the intercom informed the crew that an intruder was onboard the Titan. Then came a distant sound of machinery and an inexorable sensation of the vessel ascending.
For a moment, the battle was halted as Orion seemed unsure whether to continue. Looking past his cyborg brother, Joe saw Titus and Vorena looking at each other in confusion. Jade took the opportunity to slam her fists into Vorena’s face, breaking her nose.
The moment of defiance was short lived, as Titus lunged forward and grasped Jade by the throat. Vorena—blood pouring like a sieve from her nose—was beyond furious.
“You bitch!”
Holding Jade tight in his powerful grip, Titus said, “Enough of this! Finish them both, Orion. Whatever happens!”
With that, Joe watched as Titus retreated from the balcony, taking Jade with him. Swearing violently, Vorena followed.
Agrippina—wiping the blood from her mouth—reached down and helped Joe to his feet. Across from him, Orion squared off once more, preparing to follow his orders to dispatch Olympus’s enemies.
“You’d better have more than that in you, Braddock,” Agrippina said, wiping the blood from her face, “He’s playing for keeps now!”
* * *
TITUS STORMED onto the bridge, hauling Jade Masters with him. Vorena, still clutching her broken nose, brought up the rear. The Titan command deck was a circus of confusion, with technicians rushing every which way.
Titus for the group of Praetorians on guard to take over watching the troublesome Peacemaker. “Report!” he called out over the hubbub.
“My Lord,” said one of the Olympus technicians sitting at a monitoring station, “Ballast control has been overridden. We’re about to break the surface!”
“This can’t happen!” Titus’s voice pierced the room. “What’s the ETA on the activation of the Viral A.I.?”
The tech brought up the countdown for the activation of the Code of War onto the giant viewscreen, “Exactly eight minutes and fifty-three seconds, my Lord.”
Beside him, Vorena barked an order, “Has the intruder been neutralized?”
“Negative,” the tech replied, his voice shrinking, “Patrol teams report he’s using t
he AC ducts.”
Another tech sitting at the monitor relay station spun around and said, “Sir, we have approaching aerial contacts, closing in seventy knots due west.”
“What?” Titus barked. Marching up behind the tech, he looked at the sonar readout. Sure enough, almost twenty approaching blips appeared, closing fast.
They’d been found.
“Who are they? How could they sneak up on us like this?” Titus asked to no one in particular.
A brave tech on the other side of the bridge spoke, “They’re using a similar stealth refracting technology to ours. The scanners only just picked them up.”
Titus gritted his teeth. “Scramble Hyperion gunships immediately. Activate outer defenses!”
The intercom sounded a klaxon as the ship’s announcer repeated Titus’s orders.
Vorena spoke over the chaos, blood pouring from her nose, “No matter what, the Viral AI has to initiate.”
Titus turned to speak to one of the Praetorians, “Take a squad and hunt down the bastard hiding in the ducts!”
Nodding, the Praetorian left the bridge to fulfil his orders. Titus turned back to watch the viewscreen. He felt a chill crawl up his spine.
I am so close…so close.
“Looks like you didn’t have all of your bases covered, huh?”
The voice came from Jade Masters.
Titus turned and marched over to where she stood, flanked by her Centurion guard. Titus reached back and seemed about to slap her when something in her eyes made him pause. Her eyes were defiant and fearless. Attacking her would give him no satisfaction.
Instead, he grabbed her by the throat, and said, “I promise you that whatever happens this day, I will see my destiny through…and that includes killing your man. Now shut up!”
He let the Peacemaker go, turning back to his tasks, his mind going in a hundred directions at once.
All of the sacrifices he’d made, the gambles he’d taken—it could all be undone.
