by Han Yang
“Keep the nanobot plague thing as a rumor. Nothing too big. General, the sad truth is, this is for all our families. I grossly underestimated the narock destruction capabilities against my means of exploration, production, and travel. Now that the surprises are out of the way, I have to get the ball rolling, and I’m merely asking for help to push it uphill for a bit,” Darky said.
“You had me at please, you vile and evil AI. You never ever say please. Saying please tells me that you’re desperate. If you’re concerned, I’m concerned,” he said with a grunt and a stern nod before departing.
Darcy turned to give us her full attention. “I’m busy. I’d say don’t save Craig but save him. Stick any other survivors that aren’t narock into the shuttle and I will create a door into the ship while you’re away.”
“And our mission?” I asked.
“Yeah, about that. The Texan Federation may have never lifted off the ground, but they didn’t succumb to the narocks. Of all the governments, they’re the most I worry about. If you bump into them, have half a brain, Theo.
“Tell them you're not controlled by me, or that you have enhancements. Avoid saying that Fen is living in the body of a guy who strangled children. I’m watching you Fen,” Darcy said with fingers pointed to the camera.
“Hey, what the hell?” Fen protest. “I promise, I’m a good guy.”
“I know, it’s just experimental and there’s no kids for you to strangle anyway. Look, I need rare metals of all kinds. I just lost a damn manufacturing plant. You better believe I need to get under Hope later. But for now, there’s a singular warehouse I need you to raid.
“It’s twenty miles from your location and about ten from Dominus. The map has been updated. Go to the warehouse, secure the green case labeled Aramis. It has all the parts to build a flying mecha. Input the code six, nine, six, nine, and the crate will hover,” Darcy said.
“It was always your code. Darcy, you clever girl. I hear you though, go to the green dot on the map, get the green crate, bring it to Dominus,” I said.
“Yeah and avoid the locals while stealing anything else you can,” Darcy said. She became distracted. “No Jenny, there’s no hour-long slideshow or hundred talking points about the area. We don’t control Earth and my drones die in this area because of the jurn’narock’s webbing. Go forth and help humanity; that is all.”
The screen cut out, the door slid open, and I hustled to a clearing under the immense trees so we could group.
“Ayla, on point. Jenny, take the rear. The rest of you, get in where you fit in. We move at a run,” I said.
“Double time,” Fen corrected.
“That doesn’t make sense,” I said, keeping up with the long legged Ayla. “Neither does Charlie Mike. Continue Mission is just as fast to say.”
“Uh, he has a point,” Winston said. “We’re moving at like triple the speed, now quadruple the speed of a walk.”
“Eta, five mikes,” Ayla said with a snicker.
We shared a short laugh, with our group zooming between the trees. The underbrush slapped at our armored suits, not managing to do much more than apply a layer of moisture. Ayla found a game trail, sticking to the path for us to follow.
I wish I had a drone or something to attain vision on the nest before our approach. The reality was, we approached a massive dark area about three hundred yards ahead. The thick webbing blotted out the sun and hoots from guards alerted the occupants that we neared.
Ayla didn’t hesitate, snapping her rifle up and releasing four quick beams the moment the enemy revealed themselves. I had pulled up data on the jurn’narocks during the run.
“The pods, they’re called web pods, rarely contain over a hundred. We killed thirty-six, with those four. I want to do something different besides climbing up the trees,” I said.
“We will need to hunker down if we beam trees. It will leave our beamers depleted,” Jenny said, concluding my plan correctly.
Desmond added, “I just think the guy isn’t worth it. None of this area is. Whatever’s in that green crate, that’s worth it. This is us fighting for a battle suit, an imprint, and the body of someone who pissed off Darcy. Not high on my give a shit list.”
I ignored him, quickly realizing he was filling in for the sour party member we were missing. I had to wonder, if the group lacked one, did the pessimism naturally build in the most unhappy member.
“We cut down these four,” Yilissa said, pointing to four trees, “and we can collapse the web integrity.”
“Do it, everyone else stand back,” I ordered.
Fen, Ayla, Winston, and Larry stepped forward.
Yilissa input angles and said, “I was an engineer. I am inputting cutting angles and what degrees you should cut from. Your HUDs will provide the cutting lines. If you follow them, you should be fine, but fall back anyway. There’s debris and webbing that’s going to possibly alter fall patterns.”
“An engineer?” I asked while scanning higher branches.
She patted my back. “Yeah, I thought you knew.”
“Darcy never said what kind and I failed to remember your real name, it was pretty uncommon,” I said.
“Alearria, not that Yilissa is much better, but I’m fond of it. Hell, I was fond of my life on Snagglewood even with the invasion. Let’s back up a bit more, they start cutting in a few seconds.”
I raised my weapon, waiting for an army to come falling out of the trees. The intense flare of orange luminescence lit up the shaded woods.
The sizzle and burning of wood registered on my suit’s sensors.
I stayed vigilant, trying to focus on descending threats that failed to materialize. Craig’s sensors showed him as calm and relaxed. Well, there was that.
“Timber!” Larry shouted.
The crack of the tree split the air. A moment later, my suit's sensors muted three more booms. The webbing held the trees up, not bringing down the supports. Yilissa stomped forward, indenting her weapon to slice a central tree.
When the tree started to wobble, the pod of beasts repelled into action with their webbing slowly dropping them from above.
“Incoming,” I warned, selecting a target above Yilissa. “Yilissa, leave it.”
“It’s almost there and -” Yilissa shrieked.
As one, the dozens of juno'narocks spun in a coordinated effort to eject globs of webbing onto her.
Orange beams lanced into the masses, turning the dark shadowing into a fury of light. I aimed, waited for a kill shot, and caressed the trigger back.
The beam punched a hole through the torso, cutting a seam up as the beast descended. I shifted for a new target, not having to go too far since the enemy was so thick.
A loud ripping sound preceded a wash of sunlight spreading across the forest. The jurn’narocks roared out in anguish as the webbed platform tore apart. A big section cracked until more than half the webbing came free.
In a flash, the five trees came crashing down.
I saw it coming. Yilissa was trapped, entombed in webbing, and right in the path of a falling tree with a trunk so large, it could crush three of us.
I stopped firing. I stopped caring about the world around me. I used every fiber in my body to sprint to save my friend.
As I sped across the forest, I knew.
I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew.
Yilissa raised her free arm, trying to stop her doom. That tree squished her into mush so quickly it was over before I even made it halfway.
The shock wave from the impact washed over me and I did the most rational thing a man did when he saw his friend die.
I went on a rampage.
I ripped the spear off my back, lined up the nearest beast, and ejected the glowing tip. The chain rattled, unspooling to follow the large arrowhead type extension.
The shimmering edges cut through soft flesh and smashed through hard bone with ease.
I triggered the halt of the release, yanking hard to the left. The chains flamed with a b
lue energy, cutting through flesh with ease. Half of a gorilla’s torso ripped free in a showering spray of gore.
I retrieved the tip, picking up a run and not watching, only feeling for the end to slam into place.
A retreating jurn’narock fled across the forest floor. I closed the distance in a flash, utilizing my enhanced muscles to lunge in a wide stride.
When I caught the beast, I drove the spear into the spider half and vaulted with my boots lined up on the gorilla’s back.
My feet connected, sending the beast face first to the ground. I followed his trajectory, crushing his chest. With a smooth move, I yanked the spear free, killing the narock with ease.
With the spear firmly in my grasp, I aimed the end until it aligned high into the trees and fired the point.
The tip zipped high into the forest, sinking into a thick tree that supported the exterior of the remaining webbing. My HUD told me Craig was up there and I wanted to save him, else Yilissa died for nothing.
I ran to the base of the tree, reeling in the chain as I closed the distance. Once I reached the trunk, I sped up it vertically. The chain helped me stay climbing with my torso horizontal as my feet chewed up the bark.
About fifty feet up the tree, I entered the spot with fallen webbing exposing raw tree trunks. At seventy, the limbs narrowed. When I crested the line of the webbing, I jumped to a thick branch I could perch on.
I recalled the tip of the weapon and surveyed what remained of the nest.
“Well, shit,” I muttered at the sight.
“I’ve been trying to tell you,” Jenny said. “We have a few hundred dead and a few hundred alive pigs. They were farming.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. Blood has been thrumming in my ears. Well, I know why Craig didn’t fall. He’s in the human farm section,” I said, seeing thirty or so humans whose shoulders were exposed with holes prevalent between the shoulder blades. “And worse, there’s some ugly queen or some such up here. She is in a bit of shock and thickening her web to keep what’s remaining in place.”
“Don’t step onto the webbing,” Ayla warned.
I stuck the spear back onto my back where it magnetically attached. I whipped my beamer up and sighted the thirty-foot-tall behemoth. I’d seen some older gorilla ladies, but this one put them to shame.
She was nothing but gray fur. Even her spider torso held aged hairs off the limbs. Her all black eyes still hadn’t noticed me. The queen seemed mortified that her pod and home were under assault and worked tirelessly to keep the rest from falling.
I could visibly see the anguish on her face at the destruction.
She shrieked in terror when one of her young staggered and fell after an orange beam punched through its body. Worst of all, she held Craig as if she had forgotten him during the chaos. His armor shell failed him. His arms had been ripped off and her blood sucker stuck into his arm.
The queen tossed him aside to see how her young had died. Craig twirled in flight before sticking to the webbing by where his arms rested.
I had seen enough. This pod had one survivor left and she reeled defensively when a beam exploded her left bicep.
She clutched the wound, hissing in anger at the ground.
I gleefully squeezed my trigger until it hit the back of the well. She never saw it coming. A big beam grew across the distance, and I dragged the fiery orange energy across her neck.
The head popped off, ejecting gouts of blood in fountaining spray. The body staggered before tumbling off the elevated webbing.
A second or two later, a thud from below told me her reign was officially over.
“I’m at forty eight percent. Recharge timer, nine plus hours,” I said, letting the weapon rest against my side.
“Want help up there? Darcy is requesting we secure the livestock,” Fen said.
“Negative. I’ll hop tree to tree and dice up this net. Craig is going to have to heal on Hope,” I said.
“Darcy is bringing fresh beamers for us. Which is good because I just cut what remains of Yilissa free. The mad scientist wants to try to save her, which she might be able to, but not in time for our mission,” Jenny said.
“Understood,” I said, triggering the angry edge of the spear tip. The webbing sizzled as I cut through it, severing the connection to this tree. “Is she cutting the shuttle or opening a door?”
“Opening a viewport and extending a ramp. There have been some awakenings of trusted individuals. They’re coming out with gravity sleds. I think Darcy just needed a few minutes to adjust,” Desmond said. “This was a great find and probably worth it. The bushes in this area are heavy in fruit too, growing healthy from the droppings above. Some clipping or seedlings will help with farming.”
“I have no idea what condition these survivors are going to be in. Based on the sedated nature of Craig, I think they altered him,” I said, shooting the tree beside me. I hung on tight and swung across. My feet planted with a smack, and I ran up again. “I saw moving chests, so I have to wonder, did they feed the humans somehow? Otherwise, they would die from dehydration pretty quick.”
“Darcy will learn more with Dr. Remski’s help. My guess. They take blood while injecting life sustaining nutrients,” Winston guessed.
“Gross,” Larry added. “Hey, this rabbit had two heads, that’s not normal, is it?”
“It’s a whole new world,” Darcy said, overriding the communications. “I need you to accept the weapons below and move out. A hundred people are coming to aid in the recovery and clean up.”
“I’m almost done,” I said, connecting to the next tree to sever more of the webbing. “Give me five minutes.”
An override communication came through. “Great, because the others will be there around the same time. Hey Theo, Yilissa and Craig will be fine, mostly,” Darcy said.
“As long as the ships survive, they will. Watching her die was still hard,” I said.
Darcy didn’t respond, likely becoming distracted again.
I hopped from trunk to trunk until the webbing ripped and lost its horizontal footing. The platform swooshed down, staying connected on the other side.
The strain on the other end resulted in the gravity’s momentum being absorbed. Sharp snaps echoed across the forest as the final bits of webbing ripped bark and limbs from trees. It wasn’t a gentle fall, but it wasn’t hard either.
I shot at a tree nearby, swinging until my feet smacked into the bark. I released the tip and shot the next tree, descending the distance by shooting back and forth.
Less than a minute later, I reached the forest floor, seeing a type of raspberry bushes sprouting berries the size of my fist. I walked to a crew of unarmored people who carried a sled loaded with weapons.
I nodded to a guy who asked for my rifle. After he accepted, I headed to the stash of weapons. I attached a half dozen grenades, picked up a sidearm, and added a small gravity sled to carry some backups.
Out of my peripheral vision, a team from Hope injected animals with a sedative. I was shocked to see Father hauling a pig to an empty sled. I approached, frightening him with my armored casing and immense size.
“Be still your beating heart, humanity will survive - for the wrath of the righteous will smite the wicked,” I said, not sure where the words come from.
“In our heroes, we have faith,” he replied with a respectful bow. “I’m glad you live, my son.”
I gestured at the blood, guts, and squealing animals wanting to be free of webbing.
“What did she promise you to get you outside the ship?” I asked.
“The truth in exchange for our help and silence. My gardening friend, Chris, won't be joining me on Dominus. Mentioned his area was under repairs and it’d be some time before he could shift ships. I asked Darcy for clarity.
“She dangled it in front of an NDA and help. This time,” he huffed, repeating himself to emphasize his point, “this time, I signed. Simply to help. Not everyone has to fight, but everyone should help. Snagglewood showed
me that,” Father said.
I glanced down at the firearm at his side. He pretended it wasn’t there, but at least he allowed it for those moments he might need it.
“With a team like us, we can make miracles happen. Thank you for your help, Father. Until tomorrow,” I said.
“Until tomorrow,” he replied and went back to work.
I dialed into my team’s radio channel and said, “Finish off what you’re doing. We make for the green crate known as Aramis.”
47
Day 1 on Earth
Texas Federation
“You have to be kidding me,” I said, staring down a cliff and into a ravine.
A river roared at the bottom, and I sure as hell didn’t want to test its depth. A tree crossed the gap, but it was a pine, due to fall if even a bird landed on it. The gap had to be forty, if not sixty feet, meaning we wouldn’t be jumping it.
In the end, we had to find another crossing, it wasn’t worth falling hundreds of feet over.
“There’s no easy trunks to knock down to bridge the gap. Left takes us further from the target site, right takes us to a widening of the gorge. The overhead mapping indicates trees cover the gap on our left sooner,” Lenny said.
Desmund scoffed. “The mapping had this covered too. Darcy clearly wasn’t able to completely map Earth perfectly and assumed some things.”
“We go left, saddle up,” I said, picking up a jog parallel to the ravine.
Five miles into our trip and we hit this snag. On the way here, we ran into a few narocks who surprisingly fled at the sight of us. If I had to guess, since we held no smell, crashed through brush like a pack, and showed no fear, it left an impression that we should be feared.
Earth truly had changed. If we tried this run four hundred years ago, even in this armor, we’d have died a dozen times. I couldn’t help but feel hopeful for humanity as long as we didn’t kill ourselves with our divisions.
I happened to think mom, her faction, and those who sided with her, had it dead wrong. Bringing down Hope would tighten Darcy’s reign, not loosen it. At least in the short term, that’s what I believed, and I could very well be missing some secret data.
