Gamma Nine (Book One)

by Christi Smit

  Pyoter dealt the first of many killing blows to the creature. He swung the blade on a horizontal arc with both hands, using all of his power to attack the monster from its blind side. The blade bit deep, sliding into the avatar’s torso with ease, stopping only when it hit a cluster of bone protecting unknown vital organs.

  The avatar’s roar deepened as it felt true pain for the first time since its biologically engineered birth, thick blood erupting from its side.

  The blow did not kill it; the fight would not end so easily. It swung one of its meat-hammers at Pyoter with blinding speed, trying to crush the thing that had hurt it. Pyoter stepped away in time, seeing the blow clearly through his own anger.

  Pyoter shifted his weight, his stance changed, bringing his blade behind him, still clutched in both of his armoured hands.

  He gave a roar of his own through his helmet speakers, charging at the creature again, aiming for the avatar’s neck. The monster charged at Pyoter, flames still burning its body. The flames framed the creature, making it look more menacing, like a demon from ancient stories, hell-bent on reaping the souls of those before it.

  Blade met flesh and flesh met armour plating as the two reached each other, causing the platform to shake from the duel.

  Pyoter was their best chance at killing the giant avatar of murder, and everyone knew it. If he fell the universe would be a lesser place, and everyone would surely die soon after.

  “Grab that display, tell me what you see,” Rivers said to the Lancer he had pulled with him.

  Jay looked around curiously, spotting the display the Titan referred to covered in hanging wires. Dust had piled up on the display, probably due to the neglect this part of the reactor room had suffered. Very few people ever ventured down here during a vessel’s lifetime, most reactors were self-sufficient and required very little direct interference.

  Rivers was working with Roger on a panel embedded in the floor, removing the panel’s outer shell to get access to the inner workings beneath. Roger was beeping and pulling at wires again, something the little automaton seemed to enjoy immensely. “No! You daft piece of metal, don’t pull on that. There,” he pointed at a mass of wires running through the exposed panel, “work on those, find the thing before you blow us all up.”

  Jay used the back of his hand to shift the piled up dust from the display, revealing lines of scrolling text. The text reminded him of a diagnostic program he used to run on his personal display whenever the thing broke down. “What am I looking for sir?” he asked Rivers.

  “Do you see the words critical, unstable or detonation anywhere?” Rivers replied without looking at the Lancer.

  “I see all three in sequence, scrolling down the display constantly.”

  Rivers looked up at Jay; he stood up from his crouched position by the exposed panel and walked to another panel. “Do you see the icon in the bottom left? It should look like two rotating discs.”

  “I see it,” Jay replied, his hand hovered over the icon, waiting for Rivers to tell him to press it.

  “Don’t press it,” River said. Rivers took a step back and punched his fist through the panel he was examining. “On my world, we left nothing to the OS, we did everything ourselves.” Rivers pulled a handful of cables from the hole in the panel as his cutting tool extended from his wrist repair unit.

  The squad radio was flooded with the sounds of the fight on the platform above them. Jay could hear the Wolf captain barking orders at his squad. He hesitated and listened more closely at the squad radio, hearing voices from everyone above, which meant that no-one had fallen yet. That thought helped him to calm down slightly.

  Rivers was looking at the Lancer, speaking with a softer and friendlier tone than before. “Don’t worry about them, they can handle it. I need your focus here.”

  Jay nodded at Rivers, a sign that Rivers should continue.

  Rivers cut through a large cable and pulled wires from it, with fast hands he had rigged a bypass for himself, ignoring the ship OS for now. “Do you see a new icon at the bottom left? It looks like the P-SEP logo.”

  “Yes,” Jay replied, holding his hand far away from the display, in case he was told to ignore it again.

  “Press it, and then you need to keep up. The sequence is going to go fast.”

  “Understood sir, I am ready.” Jay did not know what he was ready for, but whatever it was he was going to have to follow the Titan’s order to the letter. He realized without Rivers needing to tell him that it was paramount that he make no mistakes, mistakes would mean death, and he did not want to be the one responsible for everyone’s end.

  Rivers started to relay the sequence of commands Jay needed to perform while he was cutting and connecting wires. Roger was beeping furiously, following the exchange between the Titan and the Lancer.

  In less than a minute the entire sequence of commands was complete and Jay let out a breath he was holding.

  Lights started flashing underneath the platform, followed by a siren blaring throughout the reactor room.

  New information appeared on the display in front of Jay, new commands were available, including one that peaked his interest.

  “Good, that is a good sign,” Rivers said mostly to himself, he looked up at the flashing lights and nodded before he said something to Roger, pointing the little automaton in the direction of an enormous door on the back wall beneath the platform.

  “What’s this sir?” Jay asked Rivers.

  “Ah, I see you noticed it. That,” Rivers stopped talking as he walked to the display, “is the real reason I dragged you down here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Press it and you will see for yourself.”

  Jay pressed the button Rivers was referring to. The door Roger was at grumbled and started opening. Slowly the door lifted, and little by little Jay understood what Rivers had meant as the thing behind the door was unveiled.

  “This is for you. Have fun kid.”

  Jay swallowed at the excitement, staring dumbfounded at what was beyond the door.

  “Go! I have work to do. Roger will start the elevator to get you upstairs,” Rivers said, turning and walking over to the display Jay had been working on.

  The Lancer took a deep breath to gather his courage and entered the room were Roger was waiting for him on top of Rivers’ gift.

  Nathan’s shield was being utterly destroyed, crumpling under the avatar’s powerful blows raining down on him as he tried to draw the thing’s attention away from the others. Nathan had moved closer to the duel between Pyoter and the creature, yelling profanities through his helmet speakers at the monster while he emptied his last clip into the creature.

  The creature’s focus had shifted instantly to the human cursing at it, ignoring Pyoter as it stomped towards its new target. It was as if it understood Nathan and was somehow offended by the Titan’s verbal onslaught.

  Even Locke, who had been on missions with roguish pirates as guides, never heard some of the words his second in command had used.

  Blow after blow landed on Nathan’s disintegrating shield, already forcing the Titan down on one knee, but Nathan never stopped taunting the giant nightmare adamant on crushing the life out of him.

  The flames had stopped burning the creature’s flesh, turning pink flesh into charred, ashen scabs covering its entire body. It was in immense pain, but it did not slow it down, instead it fuelled the avatar’s rage even more. It showed with every hit on the kneeling Titan.

  Nathan was faltering slightly, his voice straining more and more as the power struggle between human and monster shifted in favour of the beast.

  Pyoter made a mess of the creature’s back, swinging his titanic blade in arcs as he carved away flesh. It showed no signs of stopping its assault on Nathan, every cut from Pyoter’s blade made the monster howl. As Pyoter cut deeper and deeper into the back of the avatar the blade started meeting more resistance. Solid bone growths terminated the momentum of the Titan’s forceful attacks, pro
tecting vital organs within the avatar’s giant body. Pyoter left the monster’s back a lacerated mess of flesh, but it did not stop it.

  The Wolves were swarming the avatar, trying to stop the creature from crushing Nathan. Pyoter sliced at its sides and limbs, Xander poured his last clips from his pistol into the creature. Locke coordinated his Wolves while he fired his Kicker in the exposed back of the monster, hoping that one of his bullets would hit a vulnerable spot. Christian was the closest to his brother, he took some of the blows from the giant meat-hammers, but most of them were just glancing hits as they bounced off Nathan’s shield.

  Christian tried to grab his brother by the arm but Nathan was stuck in place, the slightest movement would break his stance, and that would mean certain death.

  The biggest surprise of the mission came when Stevens, the only Lancer left on the platform, who was virtually on the side-line of the battle with the creature, sacrificed himself to save a Titan’s life.

  Stevens vaulted on top of the creature’s back, using the destroyed back to climb up to its small head. Stevens steadied himself on the creature’s back and shoulder and emptied his rifle’s clip into the monster’s unusually small cranium.

  It had the desired result Stevens was hoping for; the creature shrugged and aimed one of its arms in his direction, giving the kneeling Titan the opportunity to roll away.

  Christian made sure that his brother was safe, covering him with his own shield as Nathan rolled away from the monster, its attention now on the smaller human attached to its back.

  Stevens dodged the first upward and awkwardly directed arm directed at him, jumping over it and landing on the platform in front of the monster. Stevens’ back was to the beast when it landed, giving him a clear view of the Titan whose life he had just saved.

  He had only a moment to see the Titan nod at him with respect before the beast behind him ended his participation in the fight.

  Stevens was hit from the side by one of the monster’s meaty stumps, throwing the Lancer across the platform into the western wall. The Lancer connected with such force that his armour cracked, echoing in the reactor room. Stevens’ body broke as he slumped down against the wall he had connected with; air escaping his lungs over the squad radio was the last thing anyone heard before he fell silent.

  Nathan tried to stand, Christian helped him up, his body hurt even inside the Titan suit, which meant that he would require serious recovery if they survived the Fateful Moment.

  The Wolves backed off, Pyoter, Locke and Xander circled the monster as Christian held his brother upright. Nathan would live at least, that comforted Christian, but it meant that they were one Titan down for the rest of the fight, and that was not a good thing.

  Christian was about to tell his brother to rest against the console close by when a rumbling alerted everyone on the platform.

  It was coming from the wall beside the stairs the squad had descended into the reactor room. The sound came from behind the wall, metal against metal screeching as something came to a halt.

  Moments later the wall split, revealing it to be a hidden door. As the opening grew, bright light escaped the crack, and slowly it freed the trump card Rivers had gifted to Jay.

  It was as tall as the avatar was, and broader from shoulder to shoulder. It stomped out of; the opened portal, causing the platform to shake with every step. It was far from graceful, but more powerful than all of the Wolves combined. Even Pyoter would struggle to overpower such a monstrous piece of equipment without everyone’s help.

  The tide of battle shifted the moment the thing behind the door was revealed.

  It was old, archaic almost, left unused in its metal cage. Powered down for so long the joints struggled at first to move its giant frame. But it soon remembered its mechanical muscle-memory, joints squealed as boiling oil flooded its tubing, awakening the beating heart of gears and circuits that was asleep for so many years.

  The current crew of the Fateful Moment had never used it, created in an age before plasma reactors were tamed, purposefully built to keep the reactors in check whenever the trapped star inside wanted to break free. Mighty enough to lift entire reactors from their cradles, shielded from all radiation, its body and limbs protected by layers of interlocking, armoured plating.

  These things were the templates Thomas Wexler had studied and then condensed to create his ARC suits the Wolves now wore. All of the known ones were either destroyed or not in any form of working condition, most people had forgotten about the mechanized maintenance suits used in the past. Such things always got lost during wars, no-one ever bothered to keep track of weapons or hardware once their usefulness came to an end.

  It was never named, only numbered due to its requirements. But this one’s previous operator had taken great pride in its existence, and probably named it because of the connection the operator had with it.

  The operator had named it Artemis, painted in thick black letters on its upper arms and across its chest plating. There was no OS inside Artemis, only a direct connection between operator and machine body.

  Direct connection was not as fast as the Suit OS connection the ARC suits used, but it allowed the operator of Artemis to get the job done - whatever that job was at the time.

  Pistons on its legs hissed as Jay moved Artemis forward, falling into a steady and mostly stable stride towards the avatar of murder wreaking havoc on the platform. Artemis’ metal arms ended in ogre-like hands, perfectly-articulated, metal fingers flexed as Jay got to grips with the feeling of being in control of such power. Jay looked out through an armoured glass slit, located just above the name Artemis on the construct’s chest.

  With every step the Lancer inside understood the construct more and more, feeling its limbs burning with barely contained potential.

  The monster faced Artemis head on, dropping on to its muscular arms to stare at the new enemy. The beast did not look phased by Artemis’ appearance, instead it looked eager to grapple with it.

  It stomped with all four of its limbs on the deck and charged at Jay and Artemis.

  Artemis increased its pace as well, but it was ready for the creature’s aggressive tactics. Artemis lowered its right shoulder, lining up the level plating used to carry equipment on as a battering ram to barrel into the monster.

  The construct crashed into the beast, bringing its charge to a sudden and bone-crushing halt.

  The giant creature stumbled backwards with a ruined face of gushing blood, teeth had splintered and veins had burst from the impact.

  Artemis took almost no damage, only denting slightly from the monster’s face smashing into its shoulder plating.

  To the Wolves watching on in silent shock it seemed like Jay was a natural at operating Artemis, and gave the construct the space to fight the beast. Christian helped his brother over to the stairs leading to the upper decks, sitting Nathan down and standing guard over him. Locke stayed where he was, close to the portal Artemis had appeared from. Xander and Pyoter gathered themselves and moved back, circling the platform to join the others.

  Artemis wasted no time, not giving the beast any chance of counter-attacking. The monster was still snorting, trying to clear its face from all of the blood when a metal fist struck it.

  The blow was aimed at the beast’s face again, one of its eyes burst, blinding it instantly. Thick mucus mixed with blood erupted from the ruined eye socket, spraying everywhere as the creature howled.

  Jay did not stop; he pummelled the monster more with Artemis’s powerful fists, bones cracked as punch after punch flew into the creature’s bloody face.

  Artemis grabbed the back of the avatar’s short thick neck and head-butted the thing. It staggered back, reeling as it struggled to maintain its footing.

  But, as most combat veterans would warn you, most of these feral beasts were far more dangerous once it had taken some damage, and like wounded animals they would become even more unpredictable and violent as they came closer to death.

  The ava
tar of murder was either very close to death or hurt beyond any hope of survival, because it just shook its head after a few moments and looked even more menacing than before.

  Without taking a step the monster leapt into the air, aiming its decent at Artemis.

  Artemis moved to block the descending limbs of the beast, bringing its armoured arms up just in time as the force of the monster’s weight caused the platform to buckle and shake.

  Artemis had caught the beast’s meat-hammer before it could crash into its metal body, holding each other barely at bay.

  The monster was gaining the upper hand slightly as Jay started to panic.

  He scanned the buttons inside the cockpit of Artemis while he tried to hold on to the creature’s arms.

  One button caught his eye - aptly named Shit storm, he pressed it without hesitation. He had no idea what it would do but he hoped it would give him an opportunity to renew his attack on the creature.

  Flames burst from Artemis’ back, making the Lancer inside smile boldly as the pair started to lift from the platform, ascending rapidly towards the ceiling of the reactor room.

  Pillars of flame and smoke catapulted both colossal avatars into the air, the platform scorched matt-black beneath Artemis’ boosters, located where a human’s shoulder blades would have been. Thick rockets screamed in their whining pitch as they sucked in air and spewed flame.

  The avatar of metal and circuitry held the bestial avatar of murder in its clutches, estimating the point of impact behind the monster as they drew closer to the reactor room’s ceiling.

  Just before they hit the ceiling Jay inside Artemis leaned back slightly, changing the angle at which they would hit. The angle was just enough to bring the monster above Artemis, ensuring that the creature would be the first to connect with the ceiling.

  Jay released one hand as the monster shifted above it, balling one of Artemis’ metal hands into a fist.